Something will be a little bit off about the Charlotte Knights in 2025, mostly because Tommy Viola is no longer the White Sox Triple-A affiliate's public relations director. He'd been the point person for all media dealings since 2012, when the Knights played across the state line at the Castle in Fort Mill, S.C. He left the Knights last month to take a job with the Knothole Foundation, so congratulations to Tommy on the next chapter of his career.
The White Sox have compensated for the unfamiliar by sending Oscar Colás to Charlotte after he cleared waivers. This will be Colás' fourth straight season with the Knights, although it only covers 170 games because of his time spent in Chicago over the previous two seasons.
Colás was one of more than 40 players who spent time with both Chicago and Charlotte in 2024, and the Knights set their own record with 54 pitchers used. Given all the instability, it was a minor miracle they finished with a respectable sort of sub-.500 record (68-79), and their improvisational ability will likely be tested once again, since the big picture doesn't figure to be any more stable in 2025.
The Charlotte Knights open their season in a matter of hours at Truist Field against the Gwinnett Stripers. Let's run through who will be taking the field for them.
Coaching Staff
- Manager: Sergio Santos
- Pitching coach: Scott Aldred
- Hitting coach: Jim Rickon
- Bench coach: Ángel Rosario
With three postseason appearances and two league titles in his three season as a minor league manager, the Knights will put Santos' record to the test after a Southern League championship with Birmingham last year. He's joined by Rosario from that Barons staff, while Rickon rises up from Winston-Salem, and Aldred joins the White Sox from Miami. Paul Janish said Aldred was excited to work with what appeared to be a deep Knights rotation, and we'll see if that still holds after Tommy John surgeries knocked out their three best performers.
Starting Pitchers
- Justin Dunn
- Jairo Iriarte
- Nick Nastrini
- Chris Rodriguez
- Owen White
If Ky Bush, Mason Adams and Drew Thorpe made it through the spring in one piece, this would've been a rotation worth following, because Iriarte and Nastrini would've been a helluva No. 4 and No. 5 while Thorpe was ramping up. They'll still be worth tracking, but it's with the knowledge that they've been subject to constant mechanical scrutiny in attempts to address doubts that they can remain in the rotation.
White is the other starter on the 40-man roster, but Dunn had the best spring training of the bunch. Rodriguez had the worst. His line over two games? 0.1 IP, 7 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 1 HR, 2 HBP, 5 BB, 0 K, good for a 270.00 ERA. He's listed as the Opening Day starter, but I assume he'll be used more as an opener, if there's any consistency to his role whatsoever.
Bullpen
- Justin Anderson
- Adisyn Coffey
- James Karinchak
- Trey McGough
- Chase Plymell
- Garrett Schoenle
- Jared Shuster
- Gus Varland
- Steven Wilson
Anderson, Shuster and Varland are on the 40-man roster, and presumably first in line for when the White Sox start shuffling pitchers out of the bullpen. Coffey, McGough and Schoenle all had excellent seasons from off the 40-man, and they'll be tasked with doing it again after going unclaimed in the Rule 5 draft. Schoenle has been used in long relief and spot starting, so he could be part of the rotation mix at various points. Plymell survived in Charlotte for half a season last year, although it involved a walk rate that was double his Double-A percentage. Karinchak walked nine batters in eight innings during the spring, so it could be a short stay if he can't blame the desert for his breaking ball control. Jake Eder will join this group if he goes unclaimed through waivers.
Catchers
- Edgar Quero
- Kyle Teel
- Juan Gonzalez
As Janish said earlier this week, Quero and Teel will be splitting time behind the plate and DHing when they aren't catching. Gonzalez floats around the organization as a reserve.
Infielders
- Bobby Dalbec
- Tim Elko
- Tristan Gray
- Andre Lipcius
- Chase Meidroth
- Colson Montgomery
With Elko at first, Meidroth at second and Montgomery at short, three infield positions are pretty much spoken for, with the only question being how much the White Sox want Meidroth to practice on the other side of second base. If Quero and Teel are splitting DH duties more often than not, then Bryan Ramos' IL placement turns third base into the battleground. Gray had a good enough spring to fly with the team to Chicago, but it turned out to be a stopover after the White Sox instead gave the backup infielder job to Nick Maton. Dalbec and Lipcius will back up the corners, and both have some experience in the outfield as well.
Outfielders
- Zach DeLoach
- Greg Jones Jr.
- Corey Julks
- Cal Mitchell
The White Sox claimed Jones amid the flurry of moves required to solidify their Opening Day roster, making him the only Charlotte outfielder on the 40-man. He's a former first-round pick of the Rays who went went 46-for-49 in stolen bases last year in Colorado's system while manning the three up-the-middle positions, but his 35 percent strikeout rate tempers all excitement. He'll be flanked by some combination of DeLoach, Julks, and Mitchell. As for Colás, he's not yet officially on the roster, so we'll have to see if any of the outfielders listed here get squeezed out of the picture to accommodate him and/or Dominic Fletcher, who is still in waiver limbo. Then again, now that Colás is off the 40-man roster, perhaps he's lost all reason to be prioritized.
