Jason C. Knapp (born August 31, 1990) is a former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Career

Knapp grew up in

Clinton Township, New Jersey Clinton Township is a township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. The township is in the Raritan Valley region and is located in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 13 ...

and attended

North Hunterdon High School North Hunterdon High School is a four-year regional public high school serving students from six municipalities in northern Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States, as one of two high schools in the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High Sch ...

. The Philadelphia Phillies drafted Knapp in the second round of the

2008 Major League Baseball Draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first ro ...

. He quickly became a top prospect in the Phillies organization. In 2009, he was traded to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

along with Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson and Jason Donald for

Cliff Lee Clifton Phifer Lee (born August 30, 1978) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher who played for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Between 2002 and 2014 he played for four teams, most notably the Philadelphia Philli ...

and Ben Francisco. The Indians considered Knapp the key to the deal, and would not trade Lee without receiving Knapp. Coming into the 2010 season, Knapp was rated the 64th best prospect in baseball by '' Baseball America''. However, he missed the 2011 season due to injury. After his second shoulder surgery, the Indians released Knapp in 2012. Knapp began to attempt a comeback. He signed with the Texas Rangers, and was assigned to the

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games are played at TicketReturn.com Field, which open ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

References

External links

1990 births Living people Baseball pitchers Baseball players from New Jersey North Hunterdon High School alumni People from Clinton Township, New Jersey People from Westwood, New Jersey Lakewood BlueClaws players Lake County Captains players Florida Complex League Phillies players Arizona League Indians players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Sportspeople from Hunterdon County, New Jersey {{US-baseball-pitcher-1990s-stub