It was a mostly quiet week for the Knights — on and off the field.
On the field, the team lost five of six in Gwinnett, including both ends of Sunday’s doubleheader.
Luis Robert played in four of the six games against the Stripers, with three hits, including a home run, two walks, and five strikeouts in 18 plate appearances. But more important right now than his pitch recognition or the timing of his swing is the strength of his injured hip and, to that end, he ran extremely well for the week, including a stolen base.
Off the field, Jake Burger was removed from a game on July 30 with what was believed to be a minor wrist injury. A few days later, however, he was placed on the 10-day IL. Micker Adolfo was also pulled from the same game, also with a minor injury, and he didn’t return until Sunday’s twin bill.
Jake Lamb was recalled on August 6 and Matt Foster was returned to Charlotte. And Danny Mendick rejoined the Knights to open a roster spot in Chicago after the White Sox added reinforcements at the trade deadline.
Also on the roster front, veteran reliever Kyle Crick was released by the Pirates, signed by the White Sox and assigned to Charlotte. John Parke was also promoted from Birmingham to Charlotte, for the second time this year, in order to make a start in Gwinnett, and it was the best effort of all the outings by Knights’ pitchers on the week.
Parke has now made two starts for Charlotte, going 10 innings and giving up just five hits and one earned run. He is not a power pitcher, with just five strikeouts in those two starts. But he gets a lot of ground balls, presumably with a two-seamer, and it has been quite effective thus far.
The mainstays of the Knight’s rotation — Mike Wright, Jonathan Stiever and Jimmy Lambert — combined for 12.1 innings, 15 hits and 10 earned runs.
Conversely, it was one of the better weeks for the bullpen, which is much improved after numerous additions and subtractions over the past couple of weeks. For the first time all season, manager Wes Helms now has several reliable, talented arms to choose from, including Kyle Crick, Matt Foster, Jace Fry and Nik Turley, among others.
At the plate, Mendick and Mikie Mahtook led the team with seven hits apiece. Mahtook also hit his team-leading 16th homer in Gwinnett. And Laz Rivera swung it well with a homer, double and four singles in 19 at bats. Rivera continues to open eyes since his mid-July promotion from Birmingham, with a slash line of .317/.364/.488 in 41 at bats.
Among others of note, Adolfo had a double, single and walk in seven plate appearances. And Yermin Mercedes added a home run, four singles and a walk in 22 times up. Matt Reynolds chipped in two doubles.
It was a quiet week for Deivy Grullon, Ti’Quan Forbes and Blake Rutherford. Zach Remillard and Rutherford led the team with six strikeouts apiece.
Defensively, six was the magic number in the Gwinnett series: six errors, six wild pitches and six unearned runs — plus a balk and two passed balls. The team was 14-61 with runners in scoring position in Gwinnett, which is not terrible. But as has been the case for much of the season, the Knights’ just don’t seem to be able to get the big hit at the right time.
Up Next
The team heads to Jacksonville for the second week of a two-week road trip. The Jumbo Shrimp, the Marlin’s affiliate, stand 48-36 on the season, and are 7-3 in their last 10 games.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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