Knizner a quick study as Heim's understudy

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- When Andrew Knizner signed with the Rangers in January, he got a barrage of text messages from folks across the league telling him that Bobby Wilson would change his life.

Knizner immediately believed it, so much so that, shortly after signing, he drove from his house in Florida to Wilson’s on the opposite coast to get acclimated with the Rangers’ catching coach.

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“The goal is to make these guys better every single day,” Wilson said. “It’s about building a relationship with them and showing them that you truly care about them. The one thing that I know in this game, it's always about the players. It's never about the coaches. It's about helping them reach their maximum goals.”

Wilson has a reputation for developing elite defensive backstops, most recently with Jonah Heim, Texas’ All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner. Knizner is more than excited to join Wilson’s catching group and improve his game tenfold.

The biggest points of emphasis for Knizner this spring are game prep, receiving, framing pitches and simply building a relationship with the existing pitching staff. The 29-year-old said he’s slowly but surely learning the pitchers, while also acknowledging that it's a process that never really stops because things are always changing in baseball.

“I think you can never stop learning,” Knizner said. “The challenging part of being a catcher is you have to be able to adapt and change as you go. I think I have a pretty good basic understanding of all these guys so far. Communication has been great on both ends, which helps out a ton. The main thing for me is to keep getting the reps with those guys and speed up that learning curve.”

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That’s part of where Wilson’s game prep and coaching comes in for the catchers.

One of the highlights of Wilson’s approach to coaching has been his ability to work alongside pitching coach Mike Maddux and create detailed game plans for both the pitchers and catchers.

“Obviously, being a former player and not being too far removed from playing, Bobby has a really good idea of what we need as catchers to get ready, as far as the skills and the drills,” Knizner said. “He definitely knows what he's talking about. He's really, really good, and he has a really good sense of being able to explain things so we can understand it. He keeps it simple, yet gives us the correct information.”

At the plate, Knizner is looking to replace the production left by Mitch Garver, who signed with the Mariners in free agency this past offseason. Knizner hit .241 with a .712 OPS in 70 games with St. Louis in 2023 while posting career highs in homers (10), RBIs (31), doubles (11), extra-base hits (21) and runs (30).

Rangers offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker -- Knizner’s hitting coach with in 2017 in the Cardinals’ system -- said he and the other hitting coaches are working to get Knizner to drive the ball to all fields and increase his offensive production.

“We're making significant changes to his swing right now,” Ecker said. “He’s picking that up fast. We’re getting him away from being such a rotational pull-side hitter, so just trying to get him to be a little bit more neutral through center field and get his bat to work in a better way. We're going to put him in our system and try to make him into a really good Major League hitter.”

The role of a backup catcher isn’t an easy one in today’s game. It’s being available to the pitchers at all times. It's playing two games a week, but being ready to take over at a moment's notice. It’s having the same communication and relationship with the pitching staff that the starter has, with less live game action to develop it.

“There's a lot of work that goes into it when they're not playing that nobody really sees,” Wilson said. “… Our ceiling has been raised, and the expectations are higher. It's a challenge to them to be up to the challenges on a daily basis.”

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Knizner is ready to live up to those expectations alongside a stacked group of catchers behind Heim. Manager Bruce Bochy -- a former big league backup catcher himself -- further praised Knizner’s makeup and willingness to learn and get better this season.

“[With Knizner], his commitment to getting better is what gets me excited,” Wilson said. “Because he's an open book, he wants to get better. Everything we’ve asked from him so far in camp, he's done. And he’s a great guy, so that makes it easier, too.”