Selected by the San Diego Padres in the 20th round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Fordham University... signed with the Padres on June 18, 2018 and received an $80,000 signing bonus... served as a two-way player (SP/OF) during his three-year career at Fordham University, finishing in a tie for second place on Fordham's career strikeouts list (218)...his 2.93 career ERA ranks 10th in the school's history... Earned Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week on May 14, 2018, after throwing a complete game, four-hit shutout at Massachusetts with a season-high 10 strikeouts... a multi-sport athlete at St. Dominic High School in Oyster Bay, New York, he played for the varsity baseball, soccer, basketball and football teams... Majored in Communications with a concentration in Media, Culture & Society at Fordham... played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2017... pitched for the Westhampton Aviators of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League and was named the league's Pitcher of the Year following his freshman season at Fordham.. made his Major League debut with San Diego on July 9, 2021
2021
Split his season between SD, El Paso (AAA) and San Antonio (AA), making 19 combined MiLB appearances (16 starts) with a 3.57 ERA and 12 appearances (5 starts) for SD with a 4.97 ERA...Had his contract selected July 9 from Double-A prior to making a Triple-A appearance and made his ML debut that same day with a start vs. COL…allowed two runs on three hits, striking out three and walking four in SD’s 4-2 victory… was optioned to ELP the following day, one of five options throughout the season...In his five starts for SD, he went 0-2 with a 6.46 ERA (11 ER, 15.1 IP) and .246 opp. AVG…in his seven relief appearances, he went 1-0 with a 3.29 ERA (5 ER, 13.2 IP) and .191 opp. AVG...Recalled from ELP as the 27th man to start the back end of a doubleheader July 21 @ ATL (1.2 IP, H, 3 ER), but the game was suspended due to rain…the game was resumed in San Diego at Petco Park as part of a doubleheader Sept. 24, and Knehr was recalled as the 29th man to start the originally scheduled game on the back end of the doubleheader, tossing a career-high 4.0 IP (5 H, 3 ER)...Earned his first ML victory Aug. 15 @ ARI (2.0 IP, 3 H, ER)...While in the big leagues, limited LHH to a .182 AVG while RHH batted .250...Began the season with San Antonio (AA), going 6-1 with a 3.90 ERA across 11 starts…made eight appearances (5 starts) for the Chihuahuas, going 0-2 with a 2.66 ERA (6 ER, 20.1 IP)…from Aug. 27-Sept. 20, he made six app. (3 starts) for ELP, going 0-1 with one save and a 3.09 ERA...Earned Triple-A West Pitcher of the Week honors Aug. 1...Relied on four pitches: 4-Seam Fastball (55%), Changeup (23%), Cutter 15%) and Slider (8%)...His 4-seamer averaged 93.5 mph with opponents hitting .169 off it…they hit .190 vs. his changeup, .333 vs. his slider and .429 vs. his cutter.
2020
Was not a part of the Padres' 60-man player pool in 2020... did not play in the Minors due to the season being canceled by Covid-19 pandemic
2019
Spent the entire campaign with Lake Elsinore (A), going 3-5 with a 5.43 ERA (40 ER, 66.1 IP) in 17 app (12 starts)...Earned his 1st save of 2019 and the third of his career in his 1st outing on May 31 vs. San Jose...tossed a scoreless 8th inning in his 2nd outing in LE's 9-3 defeat on June 4...Over his next 7 outings (6 starts) from June 8-July 17, went 3-2 with a 2.88 ERA (11 ER, 34.1 IP) with a 12.05 SO/9 ratio and .217 opp. AVG...Posted a career-high 10 strikeouts twice in 3 appearances...struck out 10 in LE's 10-0 victory vs. Lancaster on July 4...struck out another 10 13 days later on July 17 vs. Modesto in a career-high 8.0 IP in the Storm's 4-1 extra inning defeat...Knehr did not start the game, but pitched the 3rd thru 10th innings, allowing just 5 hits...Went 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA (28 ER, 28.0 IP) in his final 8 appearances (6 starts ) of the campaign...he allowed 9 runs (8 earned) across 4.1 IP on July 23, 8 runs (all earned) in 1.0 inning of relief on Aug. 4 and 8 runs (6 earned) in 5.2 IP on Aug. 14...excluding those 3 outings, he posted a 2.93 ERA (18 ER, 55.1 IP) with a .229 opp. AVG.
2018
Made his professional debut with 12 relief appearances for the Rookie-Level AZL Padres 1, going 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA (6 ER, 19.0 IP), 25 SO against 8 BB and a .167 opp. AVG...Converted both of his 1st 2 professional save opportunities on July 14 and 18...Promoted to Fort Wayne (A) on Aug. 4 and took his only loss of the campaign in his TinCaps debut that same day vs. Lansing, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits in the 7th inning in FW's eventual 5-3 defeat...Overall for FW, went 0-1 with a 4.02 ERA (7 ER, 15.2 IP) and a .241 opp. AVG in 8 appearances (1 start).