The Brewers' Competitive Balance Round A selection in the 2023 Draft, Knoth has a smooth delivery that appears to be pretty repeatable. Going back to the summer of 2022, his profile was already very enticing, even though he only threw his fastball in the 90-93 range and was topping out at 95, at the time. The spring before he was drafted, however, he was up to 98 on occasion and sitting more in the 93-96 range. 

Knoth’s velocity held in that 93-96 range in 2024, and the fastball played quite well at the Low-A level. His athletic delivery gives him a low release height, which helps the fastball play well up in the zone, due to the carry he generates on the pitch. The fastball shape pairs extremely well with Knoth’s low-80s curveball. It’s a 3,000-RPM pitch with late bite and a ton of vertical movement.

His slider could be a plus pitch as well, coming in on a different plane than his curve, with more sweep and less depth. The slider also has sharp movement and a spin rate around 3,000 RPMs, and it sits in the 86-88 MPH range. He seems more comfortable with commanding the slider than the curveball, and likes to use it as a put-away pitch against right-handed hitters.

Knoth also mixes in an occasional changeup (mostly against lefties) that shows some interesting fade. So far, he doesn’t take as much velocity off of it as you would hope, and that’s likely something the Brewers will continue to work on with him. A decent fourth pitch, especially something that moves the opposite direction of his breaking balls, would make it more likely that he’s able to continue as a starting pitcher.

While Knoth’s repertoire seems like one that would give right-handed hitters fits, given how breaking ball-heavy it is, he was actually much better against left-handed hitters this season. Lefties only managed a .630 OPS against him, while righties were at .808 for the year. An 84-inning sample isn’t big enough to make any conclusions with regard to platoon splits, but it will be worth monitoring as he moves forward.

Knoth spent the vast majority of his season as an 18-year-old in Low A, and he definitely held his own. His command would come and go, and he allowed more hard contact and line drives than you would want. However, those types of struggles are not abnormal for such a youngster in full-season ball. It will be interesting to see if he remains in Carolina to begin 2025, or if they continue to push him by starting him at High-A Wisconsin. Knoth has one of the higher ceilings among the pitchers in the organization, but fans will need to remain patient. He will be a teenager for the majority of 2025; there’s still a lot of work to be done.