Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Landon Knack has had a unique start to his MLB career, which began as a relief pitcher in South Korea for the Seoul Series.
But while Knack was active for the international series against the San Diego Padres, he did not appear in either game at Gocheok Sky Dome. Knack then was among the pitchers the Dodgers optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City ahead of their Dodger Stadium opener at the end of March.
He’s since returned and received opportunities in the Dodgers rotation because of Bobby Miller going on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation.
Knack made his MLB debut against the Washington Nationals on April 17 and faced them one week later in his second career start.
Although that’s an odd quirk for Knack to begin his career, it’s a setup he had prior experience and comfort with because of how the Minor League schedule is constructed, via SportsNet LA:
“It’s interesting. In the Minors, the way we kind of have it set up right now is if you throw on Tuesday, you throw to the same team on Sunday. So it wasn’t completely foreign to face the same team twice in a row. So I still felt very good about things.”
In his first start at Dodger Stadium, Knack got through five innings and settled in after allowing two runs in the opening frame.
“It was more just the mindset. It was slowing things down on myself, making sure I take my breaths and after that, everything came a lot smoother,” Knack explained of the turnaround.
The right-hander then had a similar outcome at Nationals Park, setting a career high with six innings pitched and again allowing just two runs. He retired the final 13 batters faced.
Landon Knack wears debut patch
Knack is among four Dodgers rookies who have worn the special MLB debut jersey patch this season. It’s part of a collaboration between Fanatics Collectables, Topps, Major League Baseball and MLB Player’s Association that was first implemented last season.
The patch is worn on the player’s jersey for their first game in the Major Leagues before being removed and added to a rookie card. That extremely valuable and rare card is then inserted into a random Topps pack.
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