The Charlotte Knights are an interesting roster, full of former top prospects that failed pretty miserably.
On the roster and starting tonight is John Danks. He faces a line-up that features a lot of left-handed batters, which historically has been something that works out pretty well for the hitting team. Joe Madden used to employ a strategy using as many LHB as they could (even the switch-hitters would bat left) against pitchers like Danks, lefties who didn't throw hard and used change-ups to get their outs. He will be in tough against Luis Jimenez, Jim Negrych, and the rest of the line-up.
The 1B on the team are former Red Sox hot prospect Lars Anderson (briefly a member of the Blue Jays system), Seth Loman, and former Jays fringy prospect Mike McDade, or "Man Mountain McDade" as he used to be called. Loman seems to be the regular, with 7 HR and a .243/.418/.505 triple slash.
The other IF on the team are 3B Brent Moral, MI Drew Garcia, MI Angel Sanchez (on rehab assignment), MI Carlos Sanchez, and IF Steve Tolleson. Tolleson leads the group with 4 HR, with Morel behind at 2. The others have a combined 0 and none have an OBP above .300 (Carlos Sanchez appears to be the regular SS).
The catching on the team is former top prospect for the Cardinals Bryan Anderson and the starter is Josh Phegley, a current prospect for the White Sox. Phegley has been crushing the baseball this season with a .347/.409/.686 triple slash line with 10 HR and 27 RBI.
The OF on the roster are Jordan Danks (John's younger brother), Jim Gallagher, Brandon Short, Blake Tekotte. Neither of them appear to be anything to write home about.
Their pitching staff has a lot of familiar names on it. Former high prospects David Purcey (Blue Jays), Donnie Veal (Cubs), Zach Stewart (Blue Jays), Dan Moskos (Pirates), and Simon Castro (Padres) make up parts of the staff. Stewart and Castro are in the rotation, while the rest see relief. Another interesting name is Tony Pena Jr, the former SS for the KC Royals, who is pitching as a swing man for the team.
Game 1 kicks off tonight at 7:05PM. John Danks vs Claudio Vargas
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