Knack battles back to make debut a positive experience
by Cary Osborne
Dodger rookie starting pitcher Landon Knack stood in the dugout in the bottom of the fifth inning between pitching coaches Mark Prior and Connor McGuiness on Wednesday.
He patted his chest where his heart beats.
“I was telling them that that first inning I definitely let things speed up because I had the nerves still in there,” Knack explained. “That first inning felt like it was here (in my chest).”
Afterward, his head and body took over.
The 26-year-old allowed just one baserunner over his final four innings in the Dodgers’ 2–0 loss. It was a meaningful bounceback after his challenging introduction.
The second-to-worst thing happened to begin Knack’s Major League debut. The only thing worse would have been a first-pitch home run. Instead, he allowed a home run to Washington leadoff hitter CJ Abrams on the second pitch of the at-bat.
But after allowing two runs in a 28-pitch first inning, Knack trusted himself and let his stuff take over.
The Dodgers’ №13 prospect, called up on Wednesday to make the start against the Nationals, retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced.
His five innings of work — highlighted by resiliency — has now given the Dodgers a little more trust.
“I think that it’s fair that you have some nerves and some emotions making your Major League debut. Absolutely,” said manager Dave Roberts. “And he’ll get another start. I don’t know what day that is, but he’ll get another start, and we expect him to build on that first one.”
Knack struck out Washington third baseman Nick Senzel with two on in the first inning, ending the frame. Senzel was the first of 10 batters Knack retired in a row until Eddie Rosario singled to begin the fifth inning.
Rosario was immediately erased when catcher Riley Adams grounded into a double play. Knack’s final inning lasted five pitches and earned him three outs.
Back in the dugout, he received hugs and congratulations. Pitcher Gavin Stone, who was selected three rounds after Knack in the 2020 MLB Draft, was one of the first to greet him.
Stone was in Knack’s shoes almost one year ago when he made his Major League debut on May 3 also starting at Dodger Stadium. Stone also faced seven batters in the first inning of his Major League debut and allowed a run.
He admitted that he thought about his parallel with Knack, his former Minor League teammate. But he was also thinking about how Knack handled his first start.
“You could see he was having so much fun out there,” Stone said.
Now both are starting Major League games in the first month of the 2024 season with the potential to start more.
Bobby Miller went on the injured list on April 13. Walker Buehler has a rehab start scheduled for Thursday, which means the soonest he could be pitching for the Dodgers is midweek next week.
Knack now has a building block for the next opportunity if and when it arises.
“Obviously, we would have liked a little better start than that,” he said. “I kind of didn’t set the tone as great as I would like to. Hopefully moving forward, we set the tone a little better than that right there. But definitely still overall it was a positive experience.”
