Knights Knotes: April 14, 2017
KNIGHT LIGHTS: The Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox) concluded their four-game series against the Durham Bulls (Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays) last night with a 6–0 loss in game four of the four-game set. Tonight, the Knights head to Norfolk , VA to open a three-game series against the Norfolk Tides (Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles). Charlotte is in search of its first road win of the season tonight after having dropped each of the first four games of this road trip. The team’s last road win came on August 28, 2016 at Norfolk. Overall, the Knights are 2–10 over their last 12 road games dating back to August 19, 2016 at Gwinnett.
ABOUT LAST KNIGHT: Catcher Mike Marjama homered for the third time in as many days to help lead the Durham Bulls to a 6–0 win over the Charlotte Knights on Thursday in the finale of their four-game series from Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, NC. With the win, the Bulls took all four games in the series against the Knights. Charlotte, who began the year 4–0, is now 4–4 on the season. 1B Danny Hayes had two of Charlotte’s three hits last night. RHP Lucas Giolito (0–1, 7.56) started for the Knights and allowed three runs (all earned) on three hits over four innings and was saddled with the loss
GARCIA RECALLED: Outfielder Willy Garcia, who earned International League Batter of the Week honors on Monday, has been recalled by the Chicago White Sox today. Garcia takes the place of outfielder Melky Cabrera, who was placed on the Paternity List by the White Sox. Charlotte’s roster now features 24 active players. For the season, the Dominican native is hitting .423 (11-for-26) with nine runs scored, two home runs, and six RBIs over seven games. Last week, Garcia hit safely in all four games (April 6–9) to help lead the Charlotte Knights to their first 4–0 start since the 2011 season (5–0). For the season, the Dominican native is hitting .423 (11-for-26) with nine runs scored, two home runs, and six RBIs over seven games. Claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 6, 2017, Garcia is in his first season in the Chicago White Sox organization. The 24-year-old spent the entire 2016 season with the Indianapolis Indians (Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates) and hit .245 with six home runs and 43 RBIs in 129 games. He led all International League outfielders in games played (128) and assists (17). For his efforts in the field last season, he was named as the Indianapolis Indians Defensive Player of the Year.
FROM THE SOUTH TO THE SOUTH SIDE: Outfielder Willy Garcia, 24, is the third Charlotte player this season to earn a promotion to Chicago. RHP Tommy Kahnle became the first player to earn a promotion when he was recalled on April 6th by the White Sox. Yesterday, catcher Kevan Smith had his contract purchased by the White Sox. At the time of his promotion, Smith was leading the team with a .438 (7-for-16) batting average and nine RBIs in four games this season.
HI TIDES: The Knights opened the 2017 season at BB&T Ballpark on April 6th and went 4–0 on their opening homestand against the Norfolk Tides (Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles). Over that stretch, the team hit .375 (60-for-160), swatted seven home runs, scored 39 runs, and had a .442 on base percentage. Since then, the Knights have gone 0–4 and have hit just .163 (20-for-123) as a team.
ALL-TIME KNIGHT: OF Jason Bourgeois, 35, is back for his fourth season with the Knights and ranks among the all-time franchise leaders in a number of categories. On Sunday, Bourgeois ripped two hits and moved into sole possession of third place on the Charlotte Knights all-time hits list. With a hit last night, he now has 349 in his Knights career. He passed Yolmer Sanchez (347), who is now fourth. Bourgeois is one of five players in franchise history with 300 or more hits (Jordan Danks, 449, Joe Borchard, 439, Bourgeois, Sanchez, and Josh Phegley, 312). Bourgeois is also among the leaders in a number of other categories, including he is fifth in at-bats (1,210), eighth in games played (305), tied for third in triples (10), fourth in runs scored (170), and second in stolen bases (67). A native of Houston, TX, Bourgeois rejoined the Knights last season after playing for the team in 2007 and 2008. In 2013, he was named to the All Knights Stadium Team.
TOKNIGHTS STARTING PITCHER: RHP Tyler Danish (1–0, 1,80) gets the start in tonight’s opener — his second start of the season — and second against the Tides. Tonight’s matchup is a rematch of the April 9th game and on that day, Danish outdueled LHP Jayson Aquino. Danish was sharp in his season debut on Sunday — allowing just one run over five innings of work. The Florida native walked one batter and struck-out two en route to his second win in eight games at the Triple-A level. His only blemish on the day was a third inning solo home run to Chris Dickerson. Over his last four Knights starts dating back to 7/18/16, Danish has allowed just four earned runs in 23 innings pitched (2–1, 1.57 ERA).
NORFOLK’S STARTING PITCHER: LHP Jayson Aquino (0–1, 12.00) will start for the Tides today — his second of the season — and second against the Knights. Aquino last pitched on April 9th at BB&T Ballpark and was saddled with the loss after allowing four runs on six hits over three innings. He allowed a solo home run to Willy Garcia. is ranked as the 30th best prospect in Baltimore’s organization by Baseball America. Last season, Aquino pitched for Double-A Bowie (5–10, 3.90), Norfolk (2–0, 2.08), and Baltimore (0–0, 0.00). He was originally signed by the Colorado Rockies out of the Dominican Republic in July 2009. Since then, The Dominican native has been a member of six organizations since spring training 2015. The most recent transaction occurred when he was purchased from the St. Louis Cardinals in April of 2016 and assigned to Double-A Bowie.
