When the dust settled from the MLB trade deadline and Sept. 1 call-ups, a much less potent Knights’ team took the field — and immediately struggled to score runs against a mediocre Norfolk Tides squad.
As the series unfolded, there were roster moves aplenty, including one bombshell: Romy Gonzalez was summoned to Chicago, after just nine (extremely impressive) games in Charlotte, along with Gavin Sheets. At about the same time, Yasmani Grandal and Billy Hamilton ended their rehab stints in Charlotte, and Danny Mendick was recalled after just three games (and one game-winning, walk-off home run).
The result was a Grand Canyon-sized hole in the Knights’ batting order. It was no surprise, then, that the team hit a miniscule .203 in Norfolk, with an OBP of .250 and a slugging percentage of .309. Despite these struggles, the Knights still took four of seven in the series from the Tides. The reason was simple: some of the best pitching of the season.
Zack Collins was returned to Charlotte when Grandal went to Chicago, and Jake Burger is still in his familiar third spot in the batting order. Along with Mikie Mahtook and Yermin Mercedes, there is still some thump in the middle of the lineup, but it was largely ineffective in Norfolk. Three solo home runs and a double in Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Tides prettied up the stats just a bit, but the Knights still ended the week with just six round-trippers and five doubles for the seven games.
There were a few bright spots amid the futility. Collins had two homers on the week and three in five games since returning from Chicago. Mercedes also had eight hits in 24 at bats, though none went for extra bases. Micker Adolfo hit his second home run of the week on Sunday, to go along with a double and three singles in his 21 at bats.
Matt Reynolds, who has led the team in OBP much of the year, chipped in a home run, double, two singles and three walks in 19 plate appearances. Backup catcher Nate Nolan added two doubles in eight at bats.
HITTING A WALL
Seven games is too small of a sample to draw any conclusions, and it is hard to know if the team has hit a wall. That is especially true for Burger, who had his toughest week as a Knight, with just five hits in 23 at bats. A day of rest on Saturday seemed to revitalize the slugger, who had a homer and single on Sunday. Blake Rutherford had an especially down week — with one single and six strikeouts in 22 at bats — after a nice resurgence in August.
With all the departures, some old, familiar faces are elevated back into greater roles, like Zach Remillard, Marco Hernandez, Reynolds, Ti’Quan Forbes and Nolan. The White Sox also signed MLB veteran Ruben Tejada and assigned him to Charlotte last week.
HOW DID THE KNIGHTS MANAGE TO WIN?
Would you believe it was the pitching staff that made the difference?
But not before there were roster changes to the pen as well. Kyle Crick asked for his release, so he could try to catch on with a major-league squad (he hasn’t as of yet), and another veteran, Carl Edwards Jr., was added. Peter Tago was also called up from Birmingham.
John Parke set the tone in the first game of the series, with five innings of two-hit, shutout ball. Evan Marshall, Will Carter, Nik Turley and Jace Fry then finished off the 1-0 win.
The next day, in the first game of a twin bill, multi-inning reliever Kyle Kubat gave up two runs over three innings. Tago followed with two perfect innings and four strikeouts in his Knights’ debut. He was followed by Ryan Burr, with two more clean innings and a 7-2 win. Burr was recalled to Chicago two days later.
The Knights lost the nightcap 3-1, though Lane Ramsey and Bennett Sousa contributed 3.2 innings of shutout baseball in a rain-shortened game.
Low-scoring, well-pitched games continued as the week unfolded.
On Thursday, the Knights were on the winning side of a 3-1 score in a game that Jimmy Lambert started but was limited to just two innings and 37 pitches. Again, the bullpen was up to the challenge as Carter, Hunter Schryver, Anderson Severino, Fry and Edwards tossed seven shutout frames to secure the win.
With the White Sox down two starters, Lambert was summoned to Chicago after his start on Thursday, though he was not immediately added to the active roster. He is expected to make a start in Oakland this week.
The Knights lost 4-0 on Friday as starter Alex McRae was tagged for five hits and four earned runs over four innings. But Severino, Marshall, Turley and Ramsey again stepped up to keep the game within reach with four scoreless innings.
It was more of the same on Saturday, with Cade McClure delivering five innings of two-hit, shutout ball. Edwards, Tago, Sousa and Fry then then brought the 3-1 win home.
Finally, on Sunday, Parke took the ball again, handing the ball to the pen after five innings with the Knights up 3-2. This time, however, the relievers faltered as Carter and later Turley both gave up leads. Then, in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, Ramsey gave up four walks without recording an out for the walk-off (literally) Tides’ win.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE HOME STRETCH
There are 22 games left, over four series.
The team heads to Jacksonville this week, followed by home stands against Durham and Norfolk, with a road series in Memphis to end the 130-game season.
The Durham series will likely be brutal. The Bulls are in a league of their own. But it could actually be fun to see if the Knights’ pitching staff can keep the team competitive against the other three opponents, none of whom boast killer offenses. It would be a welcome change — the staff has largely been disappointing, collectively, this year.
Meanwhile, in the batter’s box, unless there are still more roster changes, and that is always a possibility, we’ll continue to watch a few interesting storylines.
First and foremost, how will Burger finish his storybook, comeback season? Has he, or will he, hit a wall? How will he hold up physically?
Second, these final 22 games are critically important to Rutherford and Adolfo. It is anybody’s guess where they will wind up in 2022.
And, third, several younger players, like Parke, McClure, Forbes and some of the young relievers are trying to impress down the stretch, while the team’s veterans are hoping that nice finishes translate into spring training invites next year.
There’s still a lot at stake.
Photo credit: Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights
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