What to know about new-look OKC Baseball Club
Minor league baseball will be slightly different in Oklahoma City this year.
The city's Triple-A team is in a brand identity transition and will go by the name of the Oklahoma City Baseball Club until a new label is chosen after the season.
And although the OKC Dodgers are no more, the team remains part of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.
Here are some things to know about the OKC Baseball Club as the 2024 season nears.
Landon Knack named Opening Day starting pitcher
OKC will begin the season with a road game against the Tacoma Rainiers at 9:05 p.m. Friday, and Landon Knack is set to start on the mound.
Knack was taken in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of East Tennessee State.
Knack was the Opening Day starter for the Double-A Tulsa Drillers last year before moving up to Triple-A later in the season.
“Being able to kind of start the year off and hopefully get the year started on a good note, it's always an honor to get that nod,” Knack said.
Knack was on the Los Angeles Dodgers' roster for their first two games this season — which were in South Korea — before getting knocked back down to OKC.
“It was really just an exciting time,” Knack said. “I got close to getting in. I got warmed up during that first game, but obviously just the situation didn't come up for me to be able to get in the game. But I got the juices flowing a little bit, got kind of that first little taste of being on a big league roster, being in a real big league game instead of just kind of the spring training stuff.”
Knack went 3-1 with OKC last season. The right-hander had a 2.93 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 43 innings.
“We'll get the Opening Day start here, which is exciting, and hopefully get a chance to have some innings up there to help out the big club, too,” Knack said. “And so yeah, it's a very exciting year.”
OKC will have three games at Tacoma before hosting the Albuquerque Isotopes in its home opener at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday.
OKC Baseball Club players to watch
Here are a few players other than Knack to keep an eye on this season.
Hunter Feduccia: The catcher had a .279 batting average as he played in 90 games with OKC last year. Feduccia finished with 11 homers and 57 RBI during that stretch.
Andy Pages: A right fielder, Pages played in 33 games with Tulsa and one with OKC last season. Pages had a .277 batting average, .425 on-base percentage, three homers and 25 RBI.
Trey Sweeney: The New York Yankees selected Sweeney with the 20th pick in the 2021 MLB Draft before trading him to the Dodgers in December. The shortstop was solid in spring training, finishing with a .300 batting average in 20 at-bats.
Ricky Vanasco: A pitcher, he was traded from the Texas Rangers to the Dodgers in June. He has a 3.46 ERA in the minors since getting taken by the Rangers in the 15th round of the 2017 draft.
What jerseys will the OKC Baseball Club have in 2024?
For each Sunday home matchup, OKC will wear its City Celebration jerseys and hats, which launched last year.
And for every Thursday home game, it will wear jerseys and hats as a tribute to the OKC 89ers, the city's Triple-A team from 1962-1997.
OKC's colors are blue and red, and the team will have five jerseys — one home, one away, one alternate, the City Celebration jersey and the 89ers uniform.
Travis Barbary back for another season as manager
Travis Barbary, who has been OKC's manager since 2019, is back for another season.
Barbary has been in the Dodgers organization for three decades as a coach, staff member or player.
A former catcher, he played at Spartanburg Methodist Junior College and the University of Virginia before playing in the Dodgers organization in 1994 and then becoming a coach.
"Always good to be back in OKC," Barbary said. "I think the guys are excited and ready to get going."
Barbary led OKC to the Pacific Coast League Championship last season.
"I feel like it's a great group," Barbary said. "We've been really fortunate here the last several years to have really good guys in the club house. Obviously, it's a whole different team this year, but some of the new guys we brought in I feel like add character to the club house and very talented on the field."