Landon

Knack

Knack provides Los Angeles with some long relief depth behind Clayton Kershaw for Sunday’s regular-season finale in Seattle. The 28-year-old righty has posted an inflated 5.12 ERA across 38 2/3 innings over nine appearances (seven starts) this season at the highest level.

Knack walked three and struck out eight, while giving up two extra base hits, including a solo home run. The 27-year-old has struggled in the big league rotation this year, and with Emmett Sheehan (elbow) close to a return and Ben Casparius now moved into the rotation, it seems like we may not see Knack get another big league start for a while.

Knack gets booted from the active roster after struggling in his start against the Mets on Thursday with 3 1/3 innings of four-run baseball. He likely will be back with the Dodgers at some point, but for now, Justin Wrobleski gets the call with Wrobleski starting Friday’s game against the Cardinals.

Knack also walked five and struck out just one while allowing three home runs. He has a 5.12 ERA on the season and has shown little fantasy value other than pitching for the Dodgers. We’d recommend looking elsewhere in most fantasy formats.

Knack was given nearly three touchdowns worth of run support, so he didn’t have to pitch well, but pitch well he did. The only run he allowed was on a solo homer from Aaron Judge — one of two homers Judge hit on the evening — and he struck out six while allowing five hits and three walks. That’s back-to-back outings where he he’s allowed just one earned run, and Knack has now lowered his ERA to a still-shaky 4.58. He’ll face the Mets for the second time in three starts next week.

The 27-year-old right-hander punched out five batters on the night and didn’t walk a batter. He served up a two-out, two-run homer to Pete Alonso in the opening inning after an error by Max Muncy had extended the inning. The Mets then scratched out a run against him in the third inning. Knack got eight swings and misses on 91 pitches on the evening, posting a solid CSW of 30 percent. He’ll attempt to get back in the win column as he brings a 5.22 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and a 28/10 K/BB ratio (29 1/3 innings) into Saturday’s matchup against the Yankees.

Knack came in after Jack Dreyer worked as an opener, and Dreyer gets the loss as he gave up three runs in his two innings. Knack wasn’t much better, as he gave up six hits — two of them homers — with two walks in another ineffective outing for the 27-year-old hurler. Knack is scheduled to face the Mets over the weekend, but fantasy managers should explore other options for that contest.

Dreyer will face a couple batters at the outset of Monday’s series opener before handing the ball to Landon Knack for a bulk relief outing. The 26-year-old lefty holds a solid 2.55 ERA across 24 2/3 innings (18 appearances, two starts) this season in his first taste of the big leagues.

That is, at least, until some members of their starting rotation start to get healthy. The other logical candidate seemed to be Ben Casparius, but Roberts told reporters on Thursday that they prefer him in his current hybrid role of pitching two or three innings out of the bullpen at a time. As long as Knack remains in the rotation, he’ll have viability from a fantasy perspective.

Knack struck out eight, but he gave up seven hits, two of them homers to take his first loss after two victories this season. He should stay in the rotation for now and face the Diamondbacks next time out.