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It’s just been a colossally bad second half for the Charlotte Knights; truly, perhaps the worst of any affiliate since I’ve been paying close attention to the system. In the first half, the Knights were a respectable 35-40 — well out of playoff contention and with an astounding -103 run differential that suggests quite a bit of luck and/or Justin Jirschele magic was in the works. In the second half, Charlotte is 17-56. Not only is that good for last place in the International League’s East Division, but a full 12 games worse than any other team in the IL. Plus, the Knights have nearly doubled their horrendous run differential after midseason, putting up a -194 in the second half. For the full year, that means Charlotte has been outscored by 297 runs in 148 games. WOOF.
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With the intro above, if you think we’re going to be celebrating a rare Charlotte win here, you’re wrong. It’s a typical four-run loss for the Knights here this Saturday, complete with all of the traits of our Triple-A affiliate’s play in 2023: poor starting pitching (sorry, Brent Honeywell), bad plate discipline (eight Ks) and on-base ability (one walk), awful fielding (three errors).
Truly, the lone highlight of the game was Tyler Naquin’s colossal home run as the third batter of the game:
A 442-foot
— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) September 23, 2023
Tyler Naquin gives us a 1-0 lead in the 1st pic.twitter.com/TOQr9oVFCV
Boy howdy, that ball is heading up the block to the corner drugstore for a malted. Think I’m joking? It was the farthest ball clubbed today in Triple-A.
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The game had one relative oddity, that being the biggest WPA swing falling in Charlotte’s favor, when Laz Rivera dribbled a grounder the other way (upgraded to a “line drive” in the MiLB box) and off of the Memphis first baseman, tying the game and earning him a rare no-throw triple:
Laz Rivera down the RF line for a RBI 3B. Nate Mondou doubled and scores. #Knights tied at 2. #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/kpcuJoLCOo
— White Sox Daily (@dailywhitesox) September 23, 2023
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Other than that, typical Charlotte b.s. There will be players worthy of hype in Charlotte next season — José Rodríguez for another year, Wilfred Veras, Bryan Ramos, Colson Montgomery among them — but that might give the White Sox average offense; the pitching is destined to again be downright frightening, and is sure to keep Charlotte worse than .500 once more.
Better than 52-96? Well, we can hope.
Poll
Who stood tall as an MVP in another Charlotte loss on Saturday?
This poll is closed
-
14%
Laz Rivera: 2-for-4, 3B, RBI, K, 2 HH, E, 8.6% WPA
(3 votes) -
61%
José Rodríguez: 2-for-4, R, HR, RBI, K, 2 HH
(13 votes) -
9%
Nate Mondou: 2-for-4, R, 2B, 2 HH
(2 votes) -
9%
Tyler Naquin: 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI, 2 K
(2 votes) -
0%
Chris Muller: IP, H, K
(0 votes) -
4%
Andrew Pérez: IP, 2 K, HB, HH, 15-of-21 strikes
(1 vote)
Poll
Who mailed it in as a Saturday Cold Cat?
This poll is closed
-
72%
Brent Honeywell: 5 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, BB, 2 K, HR, 4 HH, 2 HB, LOSS
(13 votes) -
16%
Oscar Colás: 0-for-4, K
(3 votes) -
0%
Alejandro Mateo: IP, 2 H, ER, K, E, HH, 17-of-22 strikes
(0 votes) -
11%
Adam Hackenberg: 0-for-4, K, HH, 0-for-3 CS
(2 votes)
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