BIOGRAPHY
Corey Knebel was born November 26, 1991, in Denton, Texas. He is a pitcher in the MLB.
Knebel enrolled at the University of Texas in 2011, and played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns baseball team. He became the Longhorn's closer as a freshman and tied J. Brent Cox and Charlie Thames' school records for saves in a single season with 19. He was named the NCBWA Stopper of the Year and the Freshman of the Year by the NBCWA and Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Knebel earned First Team All-American and first-team All-Big 12 Conference honors.
Knebel was again the Longhorn closer in 2012, finishing the year with nine saves and a 2.08 earned run average. Though unable to match the accolades of his freshman season, he again earned first-team All-Big 12 honors.
Knebel was drafted by the Detroit Tigers as the 39th pick in the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft. This supplemental pick was the first traded draft slot in Major League history. The pick was included in a 2012 trade between the Tigers and the Miami Marlins, which included Aníbal Sánchez, Omar Infante, and Jacob Turner. Knebel played for the Class-A West Michigan Whitecaps, the Double-A Erie SeaWolves and the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens before being called up by the Tigers. He made his major league debut on May 24, 2014 against the Texas Rangers.
After a short stint in the Texas Rangers organization, on January 19, 2015, the Rangers traded Knebel, Luis Sardiñas, and Marcos Diplan to the Milwaukee Brewers for Yovani Gallardo. In May 2017, Knebel became the permanent closer for the Brewers, taking the job from a struggling Neftalí Feliz. On June 22, 2017, Corey Knebel set the MLB record for most consecutive appearances with at least one strikeout by a relief pitcher at 38. The record was previously set in 2014 by Aroldis Chapman with the Cincinnati Reds. On July 19, Knebel's streak ended at 45 games after failing to record a strikeout in a blown save against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
On December 2, 2020, the Brewers traded Knebel to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Leo Crawford. He appeared in 27 games for the Dodgers in 2021, including four appearances as an opener, and finished with a 4–0 record, 2.45 ERA, three saves, and 30 strikeouts. In the postseason, he appeared in seven games (including two as an opener), pitching 5⁄2 innings and allowing two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out 11.
On December 1, 2021, Knebel officially signed a 1 year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
