Michael Knorr

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Houston Astros #25 prospect in 2025
  BA Grade/Risk: 40/High.
  
  Track Record: Knorr spent three seasons pitching at Cal State Fullerton, producing poor results while splitting time as a starter and reliever. Following his third season, Knorr transferred to Coastal Carolina and he reworked his mechanics, which unlocked velocity. Knorr had a breakout year in 2022 with Coastal and the Astros signed Knorr for $487,500 in the third round of the 2022 draft. Knorr had a solid debut in 2023 and pitched well across both levels of Class A. He made the jump to Double-A Corpus Christi in 2024, struggling before he went down with a shoulder injury that cost him that final three months of the season.
  
  Scouting Report: Knorr has a prototypical starter’s build with average stuff but advanced feel for his slider. He mixes four pitches in a four-seam fastball, slider, curveball and changeup. Knorr’s fastball sits 93-95 mph with above-average ride and above-average extension. Despite good traits, the pitch didn’t miss many bats in 2024. His primary secondary is a slider at 85-87 mph with a cutter-slider hybrid shape. His changeup sits 82-84 mph with good vertical and velocity separation off the fastball. Knorr’s mid-70s two-plane breaking curveball is his least-thrown pitch. Knorr shows fringe-average command of his arsenal.
  
  The Future: Knorr has starter traits but might be a better fit long term in the bullpen due to his injury history and fringy command.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 40 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 45.
• 
  Ranked Houston Astros #14 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 45/High
  
  Track Record: After three subpar seasons at Cal State Fullerton, Knorr transferred to Coastal Carolina. Over that offseason, Knorr made some mechanical changes that unlocked fastball velocity. On the strength of his newfound pitch quality Knorr earned All-Sun Belt conference second-team honors. The Astros selected Knorr in the third round and signed him for a below-slot bonus of $487,500. Knorr was shut down following the draft and debuted with Low-A Fayetteville to start 2023. He made four appearances with Fayetteville before earning a promotion to High-A Asheville, where he pitched 41 innings over 11 outings before suffering a shoulder injury that cost him the final two months of the season.
  
  Scouting Report: Knorr is a powerful righthander who mixes a four-seam fastball, slider, curveball and changeup. His four-seam fastball sits between 93-95 mph and touches 96 at peak with heavy bore. His primary secondary is a mid-80s slider with gyro shape that works as his main weapon in right-on-right matchups. Knorr’s curveball sits between 75-77 mph with two-plane break and is used most frequently against lefthanded hitters. His mid-80s changeup is used in tandem with his curveball to attack lefties. Knorr shows fringe-average command of his stuff and is prone to missing over the heart of the plate.
  
  The Future: Knorr will likely move to the bullpen, where his above-average fastball and feel for two breaking ball shapes should be a better fit.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 40 | Control: 45
• 
  Ranked Houston Astros #24 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 40/High
  
  Track Record: After three difficult seasons at Cal State-Fullerton Knorr transferred to Coastal Carolina and saw a significant velocity bump and success. He made 13 starts during the spring of 2022, going 5-0, 3.39 with 86 strikeouts to 13 walks across 69 innings. The year served as a nice departure from his previous collegiate seasons and led the Astros to select him in the third round and sign him for a bonus of $487,500. He was shut down following the draft and will make his professional debut in 2023.
  
  Scouting Report: Knorr made adjustments to his arm action and slot upon moving to Coastal Carolina and discovered more velocity and better shape on his pitches. His pitch mix consists of four pitches, led by a four-seam fastball that sits between 93-95 mph and touches 98 mph with heavy ride and bore. He mixes a trio of secondaries in a low-80s slider with classic slider shape, a mid-70s curveball with depth and heavy two-plane break and a changeup in the low-to-mid 80s. After moving to a stretch-only delivery Knorr found average control.
  
  The Future: After a sizable step forward in stuff, Knorr has the pitch mix and control of a starter. If that fails, he has a fastball-slider combination to fall back on in a relief role.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 55. Curveball: 50. Slider: 50. Changeup: 45. Control: 50.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #131 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: Coastal Carolina Committed/Drafted: Padres ’18 (40)
  Age At Draft: 22.2
  BA Grade: 40/High
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 50 | Cutter: | Control: 55
  Knorr spent three seasons with Cal State Fullerton, where he pitched as a starter and reliever, but struggled to miss bats and never posted an ERA lower than 5.90 in a single season. That changed with Coastal Carolina this spring, as the 6-foot-5, 245-pound righthander made some delivery changes, saw his velocity jump and posted a 3.39 ERA over 69 innings and 13 starts, while striking out 86 batters (30.1 K%) and walking 13 (4.5 BB%). After sitting in the 90-93 mph range a year ago, Knorr has averaged 94 mph this spring and touched 99, with solid carry. There’s more power to his breaking stuff as well, and his low-80s slider will get into the mid and upper 80s at times, with short- and tight-breaking action. The slider was his go-to breaking ball in 2022 and he generated whiffs around 50% of the time, though he also regularly used a mid-80s changeup and a slower, more top-down mid-70s curveball. Knorr used an overhead windup a year ago, but with Coastal Carolina, has switched to a stretch-only delivery and his arm action is noticeably shorter as well. He’s been a good strike thrower throughout his career, and now those strikes have come with better bat-missing stuff.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 40/High
  
  Track Record: After three difficult seasons at Cal State-Fullerton Knorr transferred to Coastal Carolina and saw a significant velocity bump and success. He made 13 starts during the spring of 2022, going 5-0, 3.39 with 86 strikeouts to 13 walks across 69 innings. The year served as a nice departure from his previous collegiate seasons and led the Astros to select him in the third round and sign him for a bonus of $487,500. He was shut down following the draft and will make his professional debut in 2023.
  
  Scouting Report: Knorr made adjustments to his arm action and slot upon moving to Coastal Carolina and discovered more velocity and better shape on his pitches. His pitch mix consists of four pitches, led by a four-seam fastball that sits between 93-95 mph and touches 98 mph with heavy ride and bore. He mixes a trio of secondaries in a low-80s slider with classic slider shape, a mid-70s curveball with depth and heavy two-plane break and a changeup in the low-to-mid 80s. After moving to a stretch-only delivery Knorr found average control.
  
  The Future: After a sizable step forward in stuff, Knorr has the pitch mix and control of a starter. If that fails, he has a fastball-slider combination to fall back on in a relief role.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 55. Curveball: 50. Slider: 50. Changeup: 45. Control: 50.
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 40/High
  
  Track Record: After three difficult seasons at Cal State-Fullerton Knorr transferred to Coastal Carolina and saw a significant velocity bump and success. He made 13 starts during the spring of 2022, going 5-0, 3.39 with 86 strikeouts to 13 walks across 69 innings. The year served as a nice departure from his previous collegiate seasons and led the Astros to select him in the third round and sign him for a bonus of $487,500. He was shut down following the draft and will make his professional debut in 2023.
  
  Scouting Report: Knorr made adjustments to his arm action and slot upon moving to Coastal Carolina and discovered more velocity and better shape on his pitches. His pitch mix consists of four pitches, led by a four-seam fastball that sits between 93-95 mph and touches 98 mph with heavy ride and bore. He mixes a trio of secondaries in a low-80s slider with classic slider shape, a mid-70s curveball with depth and heavy two-plane break and a changeup in the low-to-mid 80s. After moving to a stretch-only delivery Knorr found average control.
  
  The Future: After a sizable step forward in stuff, Knorr has the pitch mix and control of a starter. If that fails, he has a fastball-slider combination to fall back on in a relief role.
  
  Scouting Grades: Fastball: 55. Curveball: 50. Slider: 50. Changeup: 45. Control: 50.
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 40/High
  
  August Update: Knorr spent three seasons with Cal State Fullerton, where he pitched as a starter and reliever, but struggled to miss bats and never posted an ERA lower than 5.90 in a single season. That changed with Coastal Carolina this spring, as the 6-foot-5, 245-pound righthander made some delivery changes, saw his velocity jump and posted a 3.39 ERA over 69 innings and 13 starts, while striking out 86 batters (30.1 K%) and walking 13 (4.5 BB%). After sitting in the 90-93 mph range a year ago, Knorr has averaged 94 mph this spring and touched 99, with solid carry. There&#39s more power to his breaking stuff as well, and his low-80s slider will get into the mid and upper 80s at times, with short- and tight-breaking action. The slider was his go-to breaking ball in 2022 and he generated whiffs around 50% of the time, though he also regularly used a mid-80s changeup and a slower, more top-down mid-70s curveball. Knorr used an overhead windup a year ago, but with Coastal Carolina, has switched to a stretch-only delivery and his arm action is noticeably shorter as well. He&#39s been a good strike thrower throughout his career, and now those strikes have come with better bat-missing stuff. He signed with the Astros for $487,500 in the third round.