A season that began with promise turned into a battle for survival. Landon Knack’s 2025 campaign was supposed to cement his place in the Dodgers’ pitching future. Instead, it exposed just how fragile a pitcher’s trajectory can be in today’s ultra-competitive major league environment. His second full season saw inconsistency, regression, and the harsh realities of a deep Dodgers rotation pushing him down the depth chart. But was this just a temporary setback—or a flashing red sign about his long-term role? Let’s unpack it.
Knack opened 2025 on a high note, earning his first-ever spot on the Dodgers' Opening Day roster. The team’s season began halfway around the globe with two games in Tokyo against the Cubs, and Knack seized the moment. In the second game, he delivered two flawless innings of relief, not allowing a run and picking up the win—a confidence booster on baseball’s biggest stage.
But baseball seasons are marathons, not sprints. With both Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow sidelined early, Knack stepped into the rotation and logged six consecutive starts (technically, five starts and one bulk appearance). For a brief stretch in May, he looked like a future mainstay. He posted a 3.71 ERA that month, striking out 27 batters while walking only seven. In three of those appearances, he allowed no more than one earned run—a glimpse of the reliable, poised pitcher the Dodgers hoped he’d become.
Then came June 5 in New York—a turning point that still stings. Against the Mets, Knack was shelled for three home runs in just 3 1/3 innings. The team promptly sent him back to Triple-A, where he spent the next 16 weeks trying to rediscover his rhythm. That single outing marked the symbolic end of his consistent major league opportunities for 2025.
Here’s where it gets concerning... Knack’s biggest enemy this season was the long ball. He surrendered a home run once every 18.5 plate appearances—a rate eerily close to how often power hitter Taylor Ward went deep (Ward hit 36 homers in 2025). For a pitcher, that’s alarming. It was a clear decline from 2024, where Knack allowed one homer every 20.4 plate appearances. Add a dip in strikeouts (24.1% down to 22.7%), a spike in walks (from 6.3% to 10.3%), and a surge in hard contact (barrel rate rising from 10.2% to 15.6%), and the results speak for themselves: his ERA ballooned from 3.65 to 4.89, and his expected ERA (xERA) followed suit, jumping from 3.91 to 5.78.
Even his minor league stint offered little solace. Pitching for Oklahoma City, Knack posted a troubling 6.66 ERA across 102 2/3 innings—a number that surely haunted him. His Triple-A strikeout rate also plummeted from 28.1% to 20.5%, signaling that the mechanical or confidence issues weren’t just major league-specific.
Quick snapshot of 2025:
Age: 27
Record: 3-2
ERA: 4.89
xERA: 5.78
Innings Pitched: 42 1/3
Strikeouts: 42
Walks: 16
Salary: Not publicly reported
Still, one moment stands out as redemptive. On September 28 in Seattle—what fans now celebrate as the final regular-season game of Clayton Kershaw’s legendary career—Knack took the mound after Kershaw’s emotional exit. While history will forever highlight Kershaw’s five scoreless innings and seven strikeouts, the unsung story was Knack’s finish. He threw the final 11 outs, striking out seven while allowing just one run on one hit and one walk. It was a reminder of his potential: calm, composed, capable.
Currently, Knack has 119 days of major league service time and one remaining minor league option, having used his previous ones in 2024 and 2025. That leaves him in a precarious position—likely bouncing between Triple-A and the majors again next year before the Dodgers face tougher choices about his roster spot.
Here’s the big question for fans and analysts alike: Was Knack’s 2025 struggle simply the growing pains of a developing pitcher—or a signal that his ceiling might be lower than once imagined? Should the Dodgers stay patient, or consider moving him while he still holds value?
What’s your take? Did Landon Knack show enough glimpses of promise to warrant another shot, or did 2025 reveal hard truths about his future? Share your thoughts in the comments—this one’s bound to stir some debate.
