For Charlotte Knights, which top White Sox prospect starts behind the plate?

Charlotte Knights’ manager Mark Grudzielanek has an interesting problem after four games of the 2019 baseball season.

Who starts behind the plate?

Both of the Knights’ catchers had nice weekends as Charlotte opened the season at home by winning three of four games from Durham.

Zack Collins, 24, promoted this season to Class AAA Charlotte from Class AA Birmingham, is batting .364, with a triple, three home runs and seven RBI.

Seby Zavala, 25, who split time last season between Birmingham and Charlotte, is hitting .308 with three doubles and a pair of RBI.

Both Collins and Zavala are ranked among the Chicago White Sox’ top 15 prospects, although there had been some talk in the offseason that Collins might get a try at first base. But hard-hitting Matt Skole is the regular at first base, and Grudzielanek and the White Sox brass are sticking with Collins behind the plate.

Dylan Cease, one of the White Sox’ top prospects, was scheduled to make his AAA debut on the mound Monday night against Norfolk. He said Sunday that he’s happy, no matter who’s behind the plate.

“The only thing I ever worry about is how I’m executing pitches,” Cease said. “That’s the only thing I can control. Whomever I’m pitching to, we’ll do our best to work together.”

Collins had a remarkable Knights debut in Thursday’s season-opening 12-11 victory over Durham. He slammed a triple and two home runs, driving in five runs.

“I saw the ball well,” he said. “Obviously, it was a great start in AAA baseball.”

Collins said he was nervous. “I had butterflies, due to excitement,” he said. “If you don’t have butterflies with 10,000 people screaming, I don’t know …”

Here’s how the Knights fared in their first four games:

Thursday: Reliever Zach Thompson got the victory, and closer Juan Minaya struck out two Bulls hitters in the ninth inning of Charlotte’s 12-11 victory.

Friday: Danny Mendick, another newcomer to AAA ball, homered for the second straight night as Charlotte won 10-6. Also hitting home runs were D.J. Peterson and Skole. Reliever Evan Marshall got the victory and Thyago Vieira earned the save.

Saturday: The only relatively low-scoring game of the series saw Durham win 6-2. Collins hit another home run, but the Bulls got four runs (three earned) off starter Dylan Covey in six innings.

Sunday: Peterson, Preston Tucker and Alcides Escobar each hit a home run as the Knights outslugged the Bulls 12-10. Escobar is trying to battle his way back to the big leagues after being an American League All-Star in 2015 with Kansas City.

Week ahead: The Knights are scheduled to host Norfolk at 7:04 p.m. through Wednesday. Then they hit the road for 11 games in 12 days, not returning home until April 23. Charlotte plays four games in Indianapolis – at 7:05 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 1:35 p.m. Sunday. The Knights open a series in Gwinnett next Monday.

This story was originally published April 8, 2019 at 3:05 PM.