Needing to work around multiple injuries within their starting rotation throughout multiple points of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers have called upon Landon Knack to fill in for spot duty.
Despite needing to rely on multiple depth pieces, Dodgers starting pitchers collectively have the second-best ERA in the National League. Knack has done his part to contribute to that success, with his most recent outing coming in the opener of the Freeway Series.
Knack turned in five scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Angels, allowing just two hits.
“Felt good. Felt good,” Knack said after the game. “My throws felt smooth, especially in the very beginning. Stuff felt pretty good, changeup felt great tonight. So yeah, felt good.”
He owns a 2.10 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and .176 batting average allowed. Knack hasn’t been overpowering with his pitch mix, relying more on sequencing and missing barrels.
“Things have been good. I feel comfortable here now whenever I get to come up and make a make a start. Whenever they need me, I always try to be ready,” he said. “And so yeah, definitely feeling comfortable.”
Knack did run into some trouble in the first inning on Friday, but he didn’t chalk it up to more than the Angels making it tough on him and not issues with himself.
“Honestly, no. I feel like I was making good pitches,” Knack explained. “They were just fouling off and taking some taking some good swings and having some good takes in there. But I mean my stuff felt good from the get go.”
Knack’s role is undefined with how long his spot in the starting rotation will last, but with the arms on the injured list, he should be up in the Majors for a few turns. The Dodgers have a few similar starters on the team, like Gavin Stone, who weren’t stuff-dominant early on, but excelled at limiting big damage.
Landon Knack impressing Dodgers coaching staff
Having to juggle the up and down of being a taxi-squad arm from the Triple-A club, Knack is doing everything asked of him. The Dodgers coaching staff has taken note of that and value the right-hander.
“I thought Landon did his job, certainly,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Five innings, no runs. I don’t think he had his best stuff. There was some hard contact around, but a lot of ‘at-em’ balls. But he did exactly and more than we had hoped for.
“And so those guys were standing good, but he made pitches when he needed to. And I just felt that five innings, where he was at, he did his job.”
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