Outfielder making most of Knights assignment after being sent down by White Sox

Life has changed in a hurry for Charlotte Knights outfielder Daniel Palka.

He had a nightmarish April with the Chicago White Sox, going 1-for-35 at the plate and being demoted to the Class AAA Knights to rediscover his swing.

Palka, 27, is enjoying a remarkable turnaround in May with Charlotte.

He was named Monday as International League Batter of the Week, after hitting .450 (9-for-20) with three home runs and seven RBI in six games last week.

For the month of May, Palka is batting .311. He has scored 19 runs and hit eight homers, with 16 RBI. Despite spending most of April in Chicago, Palka, a Greenville, S.C., native, is tied for eighth in the league in home runs.

A year ago, Palka hit 27 homers with the White Sox and finished fifth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

He also has cut his strikeout rate by 14 percent, the website South Side Sox reported.

Here’s how the Knights fared during the past week:

Tuesday: The Knights set a franchise record with seven home runs (back-to-back three times) and trounced visiting Rochester 13-7. Paulo Orlando and Matt Skole each hit two homers.

Wednesday: Skole, fourth in the league in home runs, smacked a pair of two-run blasts as the Knights downed Rochester 7-3.

Thursday: Charlotte completed a sweep of the series, beating Rochester 3-2 in 10 innings. Seby Zavala’s single scored Adam Engel with the decisive run.

Friday: The Knights ran their winning streak to four games, pounding Lehigh Valley 10-3 before a sellout crowd at BB&T Ballpark. Eloy Jimenez, assigned to Charlotte by the White Sox to recover from a leg injury, hit the go-ahead home run. Jimenez was expected to be back in the White Sox’s starting lineup Monday night in Houston, the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald reported.

Saturday: Lehigh Valley outslugged the Knights 10-8 before another sellout crowd. Palka hit two home runs and scored three times.

Sunday: Ross Detwiler pitched six strong innings, and Zavala slammed a three-run homer as the Knights beat Lehigh Valley 6-4.

Week ahead: The Knights are two games behind Gwinnett in the Southern Division and play Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night at the Stripers. The Knights then return to Charlotte for a Memorial Day weekend homestand against Durham.

Coming soon? The Class AA Birmingham Barons have several players who appear headed to Charlotte this season, including left-handed pitcher Hunter Schryver. A former Villanova standout, Schryver was traded by Tampa Bay to the White Sox organization last July. He has not allowed a run in 15 innings pitched this season in Birmingham.

This story was originally published May 20, 2019 at 2:26 PM.