New IronPigs pitcher Blaine Knight thought his baseball career was over. Then the Phillies called.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Fourteen months after he was released by the Orioles organization, Blaine Knight finally fielded the call. The Phillies wanted to see him throw. Sure, the right-hander had pitched a handful of bullpens in front of team officials since Baltimore cut him in March 2023, but the clubs never really had room in their systems. Philadelphia had a spot, and it was Knight’s to seize if he looked the part.
So, three weeks ago, the former third-round pick and college star for the Razorbacks left his Arkansas home and drove to the Phillies complex in Clearwater, Florida.
After a whirlwind May, Knight found himself back in professional baseball for the first time in over a year. He joined Triple-A Lehigh Valley this past week, reflective about his journey and time away from the game.
“I was very thankful they offered me an opportunity,” Knight said from the home dugout at Coca-Cola Park on Thursday afternoon. “It was one that I didn’t think I was going to get and I was on the verge of giving up on.”
Knight was a standout at the University of Arkansas, a starter who filled up the strike zone and was selected with the No. 87 pick in the 2018 draft. But after a successful first run in short-season ball, he struggled in the minor leagues. In Triple-A in 2022, Knight had a 7.38 ERA in 72 innings. The Orioles converted him to a reliever midseason and had him become a full sidearm pitcher. The switched never really worked out, and they released Knight the next spring training.
Then, he stayed home. Knight worked to get himself back to that three-quarter release and what made him a successful amateur. He threw for scouts and recorded videos. The Phillies needed some depth in the upper levels of their minor-league system, and farm director Preston Mattingly and pitching coordinator Travis Hergert felt that the 27-year-old former prospect fit the bill. They had Knight come down to Clearwater, saw him throw and signed him to a contract.
“I think it’s a credit to him,” Hergert told Phillies Nation by phone. “He sort of rolled the dice after being released by the Orioles. He didn’t go pitch independent ball. He kind of wanted to almost rediscover himself in sort of his old delivery when he was drafted out of Arkansas and kind of get back to some basics and really rebuild himself and rediscover himself. And that’s what he did.”
Knight learned from the sidearm experience to get back to his old ways, with some additional improvements. He put the emphasis back on throwing strikes as opposed to missing bats. He also returned to his full arsenal of pitches: four-seam fastball, sinker, slider, curveball and changeup. Knight worked with the staff at pitching development company NewtForce, former minor-league teammate and current Nationals reliever Hunter Harvey and his father, Brian, and current and former coaches at Arkansas to keep working and get exposure.
Being at home was a struggle at times for Knight. He was a baseball player, used to traveling and competing. He appreciated the extra time with his wife, Rachel, and their 3-year-old son. They kept him motivated, even as Major League Baseball lowered the number of minor-league roster spots each organization can hold.
“Being out for almost a year and a half with no interest from anybody and you’re home, you’re busting it … and the opportunity wasn’t there,” Knight said, “it was almost like I was kicking a dead horse. It was, ‘Am I doing this for no reason?’ If it wouldn’t have been for my family and those guys keeping me in it and keeping me supported through it, I probably would’ve hung it up.”
As Knight became discouraged by his chances of ever returning to pro ball, the Phillies reached out. They liked what they saw, they could use some innings in bulk and they even felt like there might be some more in the tank.
“We knew that, hey, this was a kind of a low-risk type of sign,” Hergert said, “that I think with how we go about our development process and our organization, that we might be able to get some mileage out of this guy in the long run.”
Knight made his IronPigs debut on Friday in Allentown against Buffalo, going three innings in relief and allowing two runs on two hits and a walk. He struck out four batters. Nothing outstanding, but there’s some rust to be expected from a guy making his first regular-season appearance since Sept. 24, 2022. The team was impressed with what they saw as his fastball touched 98 mph and his slider and curveball showed promise.
“You’re looking at, just in general, a guy that can come in on the back end of a game, chew up some innings, but also show what he did last night,” Hergert said. “… And things happen in the big leagues where there’s injuries and that stuff like that. So, maybe he’s a guy that can crack a roster, too, and maybe contribute at the big-league level.”
That long relief role will be Knight’s specialty in Lehigh Valley, and it could also be his best path to the majors if things go right. The rotation and back-end relievers have performed at a super high level this year in Philadelphia, and those roles are pretty set in stone. A few different relievers, however, have served as the long man already this season. Maybe it’s a long shot, or maybe Knight could help out similar to the way former No. 1 pick Mark Appel did in 2022 after his hiatus from baseball.
Either way, Knight isn’t really worried about promotion or where he stands in the pecking order. He did that too often his first time around. He’s just glad to be in an organization and ready to take the mound.
“I think it’s such a different view of everything now, just with being out and having it taken from me,” he said. “I took a lot of stuff for granted when I was with Baltimore. Now, it’s a really big opportunity every time you go out there. For me, I’m going out there now to enjoy pitching. I’m not going to try to play GM; I’m not gonna try to do all that, that I did with Baltimore, where I was pushing on a door that wasn’t gonna open. And I was putting a lot of stress on myself and everything else and it’s hard to pitch like that.
“Now, I’m just happy to be back. So, I mean if that’s pitching here or pitching in Double-A or wherever, I’m just happy to be back.”
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