D’Shawn Knowles of Team Great Britain slides into home plate to score a run during the seventh inning of the World Baseball Classic Pool C game against Team USA at Chase Field on March 11, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Angels prospect outfielder D’Shawn Knowles was promoted to Double-A Rocket City from High-A Tri-City on Monday according to Milb Central’s social media pages.
Knowles, 22, was born in New Providence, Bahamas, and is a switch-hitter who has been with the Angels organization since he signed a minor league contract as an international free agent on July 2, 2017 during the 2017-18 international signing period, getting a signing bonus of $850,000.
This season at High-A Tri-City, Knowles has played in 107 games, making 423 plate appearances and batting .251 with 94 hits, 21 doubles, four triples, four home runs, 35 RBI, 18 stolen bases, 38 walks, and 109 strikeouts with a .683 OPS.
During the offseason, Knowles played for the Bahamas national team at the IV Caribbean Cup which opened Andre Rodgers National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas, last December. Knowles played in all six games, batting .280 in 25 at-bats with seven hits, one double, one home run, two RBI, one walk, and one strikeout, helping the Bahamas reach the bronze medal game against Curacao. The Bahamas came up short for a berth to the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, losing 4-2.
Last season, Knowles split his time between Low-A Inland Empire and High-A Tri-City, playing in 122 games and batting .262 over 530 plate appearances with 120 hits, 19 doubles, four triples, two home runs, 49 RBI, 22 stolen bases, 56 walks, 139 strikeouts and a .681 OPS.
In 2021, Knowles played in his first set of professional games since the COVID-19 Pandemic canceled the minor league season. He played in 84 games with Low-A Inland Empire, batting .227 with 393 plate appearances and recording 82 hits, 21 doubles, five triples, five home runs, 48 RBI, 31 stolen bases, and 25 walks with a .635 OPS.
Knowles played his first two professional seasons at the Rookie Level in 2018 and 2019, splitting time between the complex level and the Orem Owlz, playing in 122 games with 543 plate appearances and batting .274 with 130 hits, 24 doubles, seven triples, 11 home runs, 57 RBI, 14 stolen bases, 54 walks, and 141 strikeouts with a .771 OPS.
The Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas are in third place of the Southern League’s North Division at 21-23 in the second half of the season and are seven and a half games back of the first place (65-48) Tennessee Smokies.
The Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas (Huntsville, Alabama) open up their six-game home stand against the last-place Southern League North Division (16-29) Birmingham Barons on Tuesday at 7:35 p.m. EDT. The games will be streaming on MiLB.com with a paid subscription.