The Charlotte Mercury covers the Knights with an eye on the MLB pipeline, the Uptown Charlotte ballpark experience, and the prospects who pass through on their way to the big leagues. Minor league baseball done right.
League
Triple-A (International League)
Ballpark
Truist Field
MLB Affiliate
Chicago White Sox
Status
Clinched a winning first half · on the road at Buffalo
What We Cover
Prospect tracking: who’s moving through the White Sox system and what it means for the big-league roster. Game recaps when the story warrants it. The business of minor league baseball in Uptown Charlotte. Truist Field is entering its 13th season and remains one of the best ballparks in the International League. The economics of a Triple-A franchise in a major market.
Why It Matters
The Knights are Charlotte’s longest-running professional sports tradition and the most accessible live sports experience in the city. With the White Sox in full rebuild mode, Charlotte is getting some of the organization’s highest-ceiling prospects, including Hagen Smith (5th overall, 2024 draft). The Knights opened 2026 by sweeping the Durham Bulls with back-to-back walk-offs. Noah Schultz earned his MLB call-up on April 12 after a Memphis blowout. Through a long May of six-game sets, Jacob Gonzalez has been the constant, carrying the offense into June. Charlotte swept all six games in Durham to build the best run differential in all of Triple-A (+92), then dropped the first two at home to Oklahoma City before splitting the homestand to clinch a winning first half. That pipeline-and-grind story is exactly why Knights baseball is worth watching.
The Charlotte Knights opened the 2026 International League season with a 19-2 demolition of the Durham Bulls at Truist Field. Six home runs, 11 runs in the fourth inning, and dominant pitching from White Sox prospects Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz.
Opening Day is March 27 at Truist Field. The Charlotte Knights open against Durham with one of the most prospect-loaded rosters in years — Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith, Tanner McDougal, and more White Sox top prospects. Here is everything you need to know.
LaMelo Ball dropped 29 on Memphis. The Checkers scored three in the first period. Charlotte FC put up six goals. Three home games, three blowouts, one Saturday in March. Charlotte went 3-0.
The Charlotte Checkers have clinched the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season — and this city is barely paying attention. John Speedway on why the most consistently successful franchise in Charlotte deserves a full house.
Jacksonville shut out the Charlotte Knights 3-0 on Tuesday at VyStar Ballpark. Two home runs in the sixth inning were the only scoring in a game where Charlotte managed three hits and struck out 13 times.
Through three games at Truist Field, the Memphis Redbirds lead the Charlotte Knights homestand series 2-1. A complete recap of the wild first half — and what's left on the schedule starting tonight.
The Charlotte Knights open their 2026 season Friday at Truist Field against the Durham Bulls. First pitch is 7:04 p.m. Here is what to know before you go.
Memphis scored six runs in the sixth inning to blow open a 1-0 game and beat the Charlotte Knights 9-4 at Truist Field. Korey Lee hit his first home run of the year in the eighth, but it was too late. The Redbirds' only visit to Charlotte continues Wednesday.
Tanner McDougal struck out eight in six innings, but home runs from Bligh Madris and Joshua Báez powered Memphis to a 6-4 win in Game 5 at Truist Field. The Redbirds lead the series 3-2 heading into Sunday's finale.
Panthers take a 42–13 bruise in Foxborough as Chuba Hubbard sits and Rico Dowdle steps up, Charlotte FC banks a 1–0 road win after two D.C. reds, the Hornets preach leadership, and the ROVAL goes green at 3.
Charlotte swept Durham with a 19-2 blowout, an extra-innings walk-off, and a ninth-inning walk-off. The pitching staff allowed six runs in 29 innings behind top prospects Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz.
Charlotte trailed 6-0 to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp before scoring five runs in the sixth inning. The tying run never came. The Knights lost 6-5 in front of 5,810 fans at VyStar Ballpark and still hold a 3-2 lead in the six-game series. Game six is Sunday at 2:05 p.m. ET.
Mario Camilletti delivered a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the tenth inning Friday night to give Charlotte a 9-8 win over Memphis, tying the series 2-2. The Knights overcame a 7-run Memphis seventh inning that erased a 7-0 lead, staying deadlocked into extras before Camilletti ended it.
Charlotte tied Jacksonville twice on Wednesday night. Both times, the Jumbo Shrimp pulled ahead again. The go-ahead run scored on a dropped fly ball — off the glove of the player who five days earlier delivered the best hit of the Knights' season.
The Knights erupted for seven runs in the third inning — highlighted by homers from Pereira and Kelenic — to crush Memphis 13-4 and split the six-game homestand. Charlotte opens at Jacksonville on Tuesday.
Carlos Pérez drove in four. Aaron McGarity picked up the win. Charlotte hung a six-spot on Jacksonville in the fifth inning at 121 Financial Ballpark and closed a six-game road trip with two straight wins — 9-4 over the Jumbo Shrimp to finish the set.
A series win over Nashville. A slow start against Gwinnett. And then Saturday night, when the Knights hit seven home runs in front of the home folks and the visiting bullpen sent three position players to the mound. Eleven days at Truist Field, in one piece.
The Knights took the road-trip opener at VyStar 5-3 on Tuesday behind Shane Murphy and a Triple-A debut from Braden Montgomery. Wednesday afternoon, what looked like a three-run walk-off home run for Jacksonville got reduced to an RBI walk-off double after the umpires ruled Heriberto Hernández was physically assisted across home plate. Charlotte lost 7-6.
The Charlotte Knights beat the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 16-1 on Thursday night at VyStar Ballpark, taking the six-game series lead at 2-1. Charlotte racked up 14 hits across three multi-run innings, with Dru Baker driving in a career-high five and Braden Montgomery going 3-for-5 with two doubles. Friday at 7:05 p.m. is Charlotte right-hander David Sandlin opposite Jacksonville's Bradley Blalock.