A couple of hours South of Miami sits the Southernmost point of the United States and one of the most beautiful locations in the world, Key West. Key West is well known for its pristine beach fronts, world-class sunsets, and entertainment venues that have no limit. But, what you might not know about Key West is its small-town, family-first values, and that baseball is a big part of its culture.

Antonio Knowles is a right-handed pitcher in the Dodgers organization that can tell you all about it, because he grew up there, and couldn’t be more proud of it.

Key West High School

Growing up in a place where most people can only hope to vacation Knowles grew up around Tropical temptations that most can only imagine. Amidst all of the pleasure that a Paradise like Key West can bring, however, he learned the value of hard work before all the rest and the value of getting your work done every day.

Photo courtesy of Miami-Dade HS Baseball

Those lessons were taught over and over by his dad and then reinforced on the baseball diamond by his High School Coach, Ralph Henriquez.

Henriquez is a very successful baseball coach at Key West and is part of one of the most successful baseball families that have built the Conch program into a powerhouse.

Key West High School has won 11 State Titles in baseball, and home crowds are huge. The atmosphere at home games is so good that teams in Florida, most times, choose to take a road trip through the Florida Keys to play a road game at Key West instead of hosting the Conchs.

Here’s what Knowles had to say about growing up in such a great place.

“Growing up in Key West is definitely something I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.”

With an Antonio Knowles grin, he added:

“There’s a saying down here by the locals that we live where you vacation, so it’s definitely a very nice place to grow up. If you’re ever in a down mood you can just head over to the beach and get out there with nature and enjoy that and that has always helped me keep a good mood and put me in a good mental spot.”

Here’s what he had to say about the Small town Community feel of his home island.

“The community is just so close with everybody. Once I got drafted there was so much support from back home from people who were always telling me they were proud. That’s one of the things I will never take for granted is having the constant support of the Community. It’s always been something that I’ve been very thankful for. “

Drafted For the First Time

Although Knowles was named the Monroe County Player of the Year and was also the 5A-16 District Pitcher of the Year as a Senior, he had no DI offers following his High School career, and committed to Broward, a 2-year Community College.

That is, until he got drafted.

Amazingly, despite not drawing interest from any Division I school, he did draw interest from the Texas Rangers who drafted him in the 27th Round of the 2018 Draft. After he got drafted, several Division I schools then joined in and offered and Stetson became the landing spot. Knowles says he chose Stetson because it felt the most like home.

“I remember telling my parents that Stetson felt the most like home because it had a small-town feel and baseball was very center focused in that town. It was also one of the best academic schools in the country, so for me, I knew if baseball didn’t work out I could fall back on academics. “

Stetson is a great baseball school and was loaded with pitching talent when Knowles showed up on Campus, so, finding mound time was tough during his 1 year as a Hatter. Having already been drafted once and knowing he had a lot to offer, the young Key West Native went searching for more playing time and eventually left Stetson and transferred to Florida Southwestern Community College in Ft. Myers.

Southwestern is led by Ben Bizier who was the coach Knowles originally committed to out of High School when he was the Head Coach at Broward Community College. Knowles called up Bizier and asked if they had room on their roster and was welcomed with open arms.

It was a perfect setup on multiple levels, one obviously being the comfort he had with their coaching staff, but, another factor is that they play their home games at City of Palms Park, the Red Sox’s former Spring Training facility,

Also, Division I baseball players have to wait until they are either 21 or have been in their program for 3 years to get drafted. There are no such qualifications at the JUCO level, however, so, he was going to have first-class facilities and an instant path to being drafted for a second time.

And it worked.

After a successful season with the Bucs, Knowles was drafted again in the 13th Round of the 2021 draft by the Dodgers and was ready to get his professional career started.

After being drafted, he finished the 2021 season at High A Great Lakes which is where he spent all of this past season in 2022, which brings us to the present.

So, now that you know all about how Knowles got here, let’s talk about why he is here, what makes him so good, and why he has such great potential.

Feature Cut

Knowles has an elite pitch in his toolbag with his slider and has always relied on that pitch quite heavily. In the past, he has paired it with a sinker, but he is currently transitioning to throwing a 4-seam fastball instead alongside a cutter that he is developing as well.

Make no mistake about it though, his slider will remain his dominant pitch, and for good reason, it is really good.

Tunneling Effect

Knowles slider is good enough to stand by itself, but by adding a 4-seam, it is going to be made even more effective through the use of tunneling. In this next picture, the pitch on the left is a 4-seam fastball and the pitch on the right is a slider. Notice how they come out of the same tunnel, but the 4-Seam gives the rising effect while the slider takes a tumble. That’s a pair and a combination that has the potential to be devastating to hitters.

Now, here are those 2 pitches in live action.

Cutter

As you can see in the videos, Knowles’s slider has a lot of depth which makes it a great pitch. But, adding a cutter will give him a little tighter, more compact type of pitch that can break straight into lefties instead of looping over or under their barrel. It should also do a great job in working away from the barrel of right-handers as well which, in combination, should give him the ability to get some quicker “swing and hit” type outs by inducing weaker contact.

Final Thoughts

Knowles grew up with “small-town” values and places an emphasis on hard work and discipline. He has been raised with all of the intangible qualities that the Dodgers seek in their prospects and he already has a ++ pitch, his slider. So, if he develops his cutter, then masters the 4-Seam spin and uses it up in the zone, he has a big, big future ahead.

Knowles is going to try and add some weight in the off-season in an attempt to add velocity and reduce strain on his arm over the course of a long season, and I’m sure he will get that accomplished as well. So, when it all gets put together, it’s going to be exciting to watch when he takes the mound in Spring Training.

If you have followed Dodgers Daily much if, at all, you know how high I am on this young man and the potential for his future. He is very, very good, and, in my opinion, is going to be a 3-pitch strike thrower with cut, movement, and a dominant pitch to rely on. Add all those things together and there is a lot to be excited about.

In closing, I would like to give a big Thank You to Antonio for joining Dodgers Daily and giving me the chance to tell at least part of his story. It was an honor and a privilege to get to speak with this young man, and Dodgers Daily will be rooting for him all along the way.