ETSU in MLB | Sept. 13–19, 2026
Landon Knack's brief return to the Dodgers' big-league roster lasted exactly as long as the roster math allowed — and not a day longer.
The East Tennessee State product was called up from Triple-A earlier in the week as part of a fresh-arm swap that also sent Bobby Miller down, giving Los Angeles an extra arm for the back end of a road trip. Knack made the most of his window on Thursday, tossing four innings in the Dodgers' 8-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds. He struck out two and held his ERA at a respectable 3.86 — workmanlike numbers that didn't hurt his case but ultimately weren't the deciding factor in what came next.
On Friday, Sept. 18, the Dodgers activated Edwin Díaz off the injured list and optioned Knack right back to the minors. With the postseason roughly ten days away, Los Angeles is in win-now triage mode, prioritizing a high-leverage reliever who could factor into October over a rotation depth piece who already did his job.
Díaz, who inked a three-year deal with the Dodgers last December, now has a narrow runway to pitch his way onto the postseason roster — a storyline that directly cost Knack his roster spot. It's a cold but familiar reality: in a pennant-race bullpen, there's no sentimentality on the 26-man.
For the Buccaneers faithful, the week is a study in the brutal arithmetic of a contending roster. Knack answered the call, gave the Dodgers four clean innings in a blowout win, and was sent back down before the ink was dry. That's not a failure — it's proof of concept. He's big-league capable, and the Dodgers clearly trust him enough to be a phone-call solution when the roster creaks.
Whether Knack forces his way back into the picture for a postseason roster spot remains a long shot, but his Sept. 17 outing at least kept the conversation open.
Elsewhere among ETSU alumni, Cody Miller remains on the Braves' roster at shortstop, though no game action from Miller surfaced during this period.
The Dodgers' NL West positioning makes every roster decision between now and the wild card a chess move — and Knack, for one week in September, was a useful piece on the board.
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