By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Andrew Knapp entered Saturday afternoon's matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals batting just .169 in 2018. The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Cardinals Saturday, but Knapp, who went 0-3 and struck out twice, saw his batting average dip to .161. What turned out to be the winning hit came from a Phillies catcher, but it was Jorge Alfaro, who pinch-hit for Knapp in the top of the eighth, who brought home the winning run.
After Knapp started on Opening Day, Alfaro seems to have seized the team's starting catcher job. Alfaro has struck out in over 40 percent of his at-bats, but after batting just .213 between March and April, Alfaro is now hitting .351 in the month of May. Alfaro has increased his batting average to .265, over 100 points higher than Knapp. Neither have been perfect behind the plate – they've combined for seven errors already – but Alfaro's world-class arm and improved pitch-framing give you hope in his upside behind the plate.
It's still not entirely clear whether Alfaro will be able to fulfill his high upside at the major league level, but he's flashed it enough that the Phillies are likely to continue to give the 24-year-old a chance to be their everyday catcher for the foreseeable future. That's why the idea of the Phillies making a major move for a catcher this summer – J.T. Realmuto of the Miami Marlins, for example – doesn't seem to make much sense.
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On the other hand, that doesn't mean that general manager Matt Klentak won't trade for a catcher this summer if the Phillies remain in contention.
With Knapp, who has three remaining options, struggling mightily, along with Alfaro still working through growing pains, the Phillies could look to add a backup catcher this summer. Said addition would likely push Knapp back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, while giving the Phillies a more-reliable backup option. This backup could perhaps even start a few times a week if the Alfaro that hit just over the Mendoza Line in April resurfaces.
Tampa Bay Rays catcher Wilson Ramos, who spent the first six years of his career with the Washington Nationals, is likely to draw interest from suitors seeking a starting catcher, which will push him out of the Phillies price range. The Oakland Athletics are currently above .500, but in the ultra-competitive American League West, it still feels like they'll move Jonathan Lucroy, who can become a free-agent at the end of the season. Lucroy has had a rather pedestrian start to the season, but he did the same thing in Texas last year, before batting .310 for the Colorado Rockies in the second half of the season. Again, he's likely more than what the Phillies will be seeking if they choose to enter the catching market. The same goes for Welington Castillo of the Chicago White Sox, who despite a down season, is under contract for $7.25 million in 2019.
So who would be some more realistic options for the Phillies to pursue as their backup catcher?
Despite the fact that the Detroit Tigers are just two games out of the lead in the American League central, they are four games under .500 and unlikely to keep pace with the Cleveland Indians throughout the course of the season. 27-year-old James McCann, who has slashed .265/.327/.394 in 2018, feels like an unlikely option just because the Tigers can control him through 2020. However, his backup, John Hicks, could be an interesting option. After hitting .266 with six home runs and 22 RBIs in 2017, the 28-year-old is hitting .292 with four home runs and 15 RBIs through his first 89 at-bats of 2018. He's currently playing first base with Miguel Cabrera on the disabled list, a position he's actually played more than catcher in his brief major league career. However, catcher is his natural position. It's unclear if the Tigers will be willing to move either of their catchers, but at the very least, it would behoove Klentak to inquire later this summer.
Ramos' backup in Tampa Bay, Jesus Sucre has graded out well as a fielder since the start of the 2017 season, and could be had on the cheap since he's in the midst of a down offensive season. Still, it's tough to envision the Rays trading both of the catchers on their major league roster. So the availability of Sucre will likely depend on whether the Rays move Ramos, something that seems pretty likely given that he can become a free-agent at the end of the season.
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If the Dodgers aren't able to climb back into the race, Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi could choose to retool. While it may seem hard to envision the Dodgers not climbing back into the playoff picture, at the time of publication of this article, they are seven games back of the National League West leading Arizona Diamondbacks. 11 teams in the National League have more wins than the Dodgers. If the Dodgers move Yasmani Grandal, who can be a free-agent after the 2018 season, the Phillies don't seem likely to be a suitor. His backup, 28-year-old Austin Barnes, could be a possibility, though.
Other possibilities include Robinson Chirinos, A.J. Ellis and Nick Hundley. The Rangers are 10 games under .500, so while Chirinos is having a down year and under control through 2019, at 33, he probably could be had. Ellis, who played in 11 games for the Phillies in 2016, is uncharacteristically hitting .286 in 42 at-bats for the San Diego Padres. He likely would be cheap to acquire and allow the Phillies to give Knapp another chance to win the backup job in 2019. Hundley, currently Buster Posey's backup in San Francisco, could be another name the Phillies pursue. The Giants do like to move Posey to first base some days, so they value their backup catcher, but probably not so much that the Phillies couldn't poach the 34-year-old from them.
In a perfect world, Knapp's bat will start to come around, he'll clean up some of his mistakes behind the plate and continue to walk at a relatively high rate. Then the Phillies won't have to trade for a backup catcher. But if he's not able to turn around the slow start he's had to the 2018 season, the contending Phillies may decide to replace Knapp externally.
