Age: 26
Born: August 26, 1979
El Dorado Hills, CA
Height: 6-1
Weight: 190
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Drafted: Not Drafted
How Acquired: Undrafted free
agent (2002)
College: Savannah College of Art and Design

Awards
2003 Sarasota Pitcher of the Year

2004 Zink Interviewed by David Laurila
2005 Zink Interviewed by David Laurila

Zink weighs in on his late season change of grip(Courtesy of Kevin Thomas for MaineToday.Com);
Knuckleballer Charlie Zink is pitching the heck out of the ball.

Counting his six innings of one-hit ball on Saturday, Zink has gone 24 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing a run.

"I changed my grip in that 15-inning game in New Hampshire (Aug. 21)," Zink said. "Since then, I've given up about five hits. I don't know if it is the grip that's doing it or my confidence in the grip. But the ball is moving a little more."

Zink is actually using the same knuckleball grip, but on a different spot on the ball.

"Now it comes out with a better chance of the seams working for me," he said. "It's been real productive so far."

Zink, who was 1-8 in Portland with a 5.79 ERA last season, has improved to 8-5 with a 4.87 ERA this season. While his ERA is high, Saturday's performance against the Thunder shows why the Boston Red Sox continue to have interest in him.

As Zink continues to refine his pitch, his value increases.

And a brief scouting report;
A hard-throwing right-hander, Zink was signed as an undrafted free agent on the recommendation of Luis Tiant, his former coach at Savannah College of Art and Design. Tim Wakefield has tutored Zink on the fine art of the knuckleball. Zink understands what he needs to do to get hitters out. Good athlete. Also throws fastball and curveball for strikes, using the same delivery as his knuckler. Fearless with his knuckleball, even behind in the count.

Stats Page

Charlie Zink started the year in Portland where most expected but has been called up to Pawtucket. He has pitched in one game apiece for both clubs each coming in relief.

Portland Line (1 Game)
3.1 IP
4 Hits
2 Walks
1 SO
1 Run
0 Earned Runs
0.00 ERA

Pawtucket Line (1 Game)
4.1 IP
2 Hits
5 Walks
3 SO
2 Runs
1 Earned Run
2.08 ERA

In his two appearances he has yet to give up a homerun.

Charlie Zink has been sent down to Portland after 3 appearances in Pawtucket. While the nice way to say it would be to infer that the promotion of Uber-Prospect Craig Hanson squeezed Zink out of a spot; in reality baseball has started to keep statistics for players and the numbers are not looking great for Zink so far.

Charlie Zink pitched in 3 games for Pawtucket, all in relief.

Games - 3
IP - 8.1
ERA - 6.48
Runs - 7
ER's - 6
SO's - 8
BB's - 8
Hits - 8

And back to Pawtucket. While he is still in a relief role he only has one more appearance since my last post. These are the updated stats for the year.

In Portland he got into one game.
3.1 IP
4 Hits
1 Run that was unearned
2 Walks
1 SO

In Pawtucket he has now been in 4 games.
13.1 IP
4.73 ERA
10 Hits
8 Runs
7 Earned
10 Walks
12 SO's

Nothing earth shattering and nothing horrible. In the "I've got that going for me, which is nice" department the knuckle ball pitcher is still yet to give up a homerun.

Did he forget the new grip or something?

Seems like Zink just has major trouble throwing strikes, which certainly isn't uncommon for a knuckleballer....but those that have been successful have been the few that could control it.

One thing to think about in terms of this years stats is the umpire strike. I would imagine if anyone would be adversly affected (in terms of balls/strikes at least) by this strike, it would be a knuckleballer.

I am not saying this is the case (I have not seen Zink this year), but it is something to keep in mind.

-Brandon

ProJo sportswriter Joe McDonald donned catcher's gear and caught Charlie in the bullpen last week. (I was there at McCoy that day, but unfortunately missed the event.) Here's Joe's Projo article on that experience:

http://www.projo.com/pawsox/content/projo_...l1.82dd593.html

Charlie Zink has been sent down to Lowell. He has yet to appear in a game there and I have not heard if this was due to injury or just general regression/demotion.

His stats to date this year are not impressive.

He got into 2 games for Portland, starting 1. Record - 1-0
7.1 IP's
1.23 ERA
6 Hits
3 Runs
1 Earned
He allowed 1 HR, with 5 walks and 7 Strikeouts.

His numbers in AAA Pawtucket, obviously facing better competition and a larger sample size are cause for concern:

7 Games, 2 Starts. Record - 1-0
23.1 IP's
5.40 ERA
22 Hits
17 Runs
14 Earned
He allowed 1 HR, with 20 walks and 17 Strikeouts.

He started in Pawtucket a couple of days ago. Undoubtedly this is a paper move only, and he will be placed back on the Pawtucket or Portland roster soon.

(And of course he hasn't appeared in a game in Lowell, they haven't even started the season yet)

-Brandon

First of all, I really appreciate the updates. Secondly, and within reason, his numbers just shouldn't mean much right? He's only 26 and they should just make sure he gets as many innings as possible. When you look at Wake's career, it is not surprising he hasn't mastered the art yet. I really hope they don't give up on him.

First off, Thanks to Cuzitt for the update regarding why he was sent down(apparently just a paper move). I apologize for not noting that Lowell's season had not started yet; it was poorly worded on my part.

As for not looking too much into his numbers; I do agree that because he is a knuckleball pitcher his career arc is completly different from other pitchers. If we were discussing a 26 year old prospect with these numbers who was a flame thrower, well, we probably wouldn't be discussing him.

But the number that does concern me is the K/BB. In Pawtucket this season it is 17/20. Some of this could be due to the Umpire strike earlier in the season as noted above but having some control over the knuckleball is going to be a key to his success.

Charlie Zink got the win in Pawtucket yesterday, improving his record to 2-0 there.

6 Innings, 4 Hits, 1 Earned Run

He had 3 walks and 3 strikeouts.

7 Ground Ball outs, 7 Fly Ball outs.

A very nice start.

Updated Stats for Charlie Zink:

In Pawtucket he has gotten into 12 games with 5 starts.

Record - 3 - 1
ERA - 4.80

22 Strikeouts
31 Walks

45 Innings Pitched
45 Hits
29 Runs
24 Earned
3 HR's

A little updation for that Tuesday July 25th:

Record - 5 - 1
ERA - 4.26

15 Games
7 Starts
63.1 IP's
63 Hits
35 Runs
30 Earned
4 HR's

39 Walks to 31 Strikeouts

Charlie Zink in his last two starts:

2-0
12.1 IP's
7 Hits
2 Runs
1 HR
5 Walks to 8 Strikeouts


To date(Pawtucket #'s):

Record - 7-1
ERA - 3.81

17 Games
9 Starts
75.2 IP's
70 Hits
37 Runs
32 Earned
5 HR's

44 Walks to 39 Strikeouts

19 Games

11 Starts

7 - 2

3.87

88.1 IP's
83 Hits
43 Runs
38 Earned
6 HR's
50 BB's
44 K's

Zink finishes 9-4, 4.03 ERA. 3.76 ERA in the last month of the season.

He's 27, why not give him a shot? If he can't get it done now, when will he?

Couldn't agree more. And the sooner we get him exposed to Wake the better.

If he is not on the 40 man, he will be rule 5 eligible.

Do we have any update on Zink? I'm fascinated by this guy.

He's starting the year in double A Portland, and here's his stats for the one game he's pitched so far:

1 win, 6 IP, 6 K, 2 BB, 5 hits, 1 earned run

The update on him is he goes back and forth between Portland and Pawtucket when necessary. He is an organizational guy.

He had a great second half last year for the Pawsox, and was fun to watch. I'm not sure why they gave Alvarez the fifth spot to start the season and sent Charlie back to Portland--Abe is just a mess at this point.

Assuming his performances this year approach the second half of last season, he'll be gone after this season. Somebody will be curious enough to give him a chance against the big boys, even if the Sox show no inclination to do so.

Zink was promoted to Pawtucket and is starting tonight.

Zink, 28 years old, ended the '07 season with a 11-6 record and 4.63 ERA between Portland and Pawtucket. It was his first season since '04 where he was strictly a starter and didn't make any relief appearances.

He went 9-3 in 16 starts for Portland, with 55 strikeouts to 44 walks. At Pawtucket those numbers looked like 2-3 in 8 starts, 23 strikeouts to 27 walks. His ERA lowered in '07 at the AA level, but rose at the AAA level to 5.89.

Zink earned Pitcher Of The Week in June of the 2007 season.

TRANSACTIONS:
May 10th: Promoted to AAA Pawtucket
May 21st: Demoted to AA Portland
July 20th: Put on Disabled List
July 29th:Off the Disabled List
August 3rd: Promoted to AAA Pawtucket
September 5th: Demoted to AA Portland

Box Scores

April 14th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6.0 5 1- 1 - 2- 6 - 0- 1.50
April 22nd
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6.0 1 1 - 1 - 5 - 5 - 1 - 1.50
April 28th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6.0 3 0 -0 - 2- 5 - 0 - 1.00
May 4th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6.0 6 3 -2 - 3 - 2- 0 - 1.50
--PROMOTED TO AAA PAWTUCKET
May 11th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
7.0 7 2 -2 - 2 - 3 - 2 - 2.57
--DEMOTED TO AA PORTLAND
May 21st
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
5.0 8 4 -4 - 2 - 4 - 0 - 2.48
May 26th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
7.0 7 5 -4 - 3 - 2 - 1- 3.00
May 31st
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
5.0 1 0- 0 - 1- 3 - 0 - 2.63
June 6th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
5.0 4 1 -0 - 3 - 4 - 0 - 2.35
June 13th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6.0 7 6- 2 - 2 - 5 - 0 - 2.42
June 19th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
9.0 6 1 -1 - 2- 8 - 0 - 2.21
June 24th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6.0 5 2- 2 - 3- 0 - 0 - 2.28
June 29th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6.0 10 4 -4 -6 - 4 - 2- 2.59
July 6th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
5.0 6 5 -3 - 3 - 3 - 0 - 2.77
July 13th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6.0 5 3- 3 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 2.89
July 19th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
4.2 6 2- 2 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 2.94
--TRANSFERRED TO DISABLED LIST
July 29th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
4.0 12- 12- 12 -4 -1 - 1- 3.98
--PROMOTED TO AAA PAWTUCKET
August 5th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
7.0 7 3- 3- 2 - 1 - 1 - 7.41
August 11th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6.0 6 4- 4 - 4 - 3 - 1 - 7.04
August 16th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
7.2 6 3 -3 - 1 - 3 - 0 - 6.16
August 21st
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6.0 8 5- 4 - 4 - 4 - 0 - 6.14
August 26th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6.0 5 4 -3 - 3 - 6 - 1 - 5.91
September 1st
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
4.2 4 7- 3 - 7 - 3 - 0 - 5.89
--DEMOTED TO AA PORTLAND
September 6th
IP--H R ER BB SO HR ERA
7.0 4 2 -1 - 3 - 5 - 0 - 1.29

Currently on the AA Portland Roster

So...he had one atrocious game (immediately after coming off the DL) that altered his AA ERA from a sublime sub-3.00 to a mediocre nearly-4.00, then he recovered from that atrocious game and had 5 fairly solid outings in AAA (3 ER in 7; 4 ER in 6; 3 ER in 7.2; 4 ER in 6; 3 ER in 6)...but his AAA ERA was still nearly 6.00 because of an atrocious 10 innings in May and one bad start to end the season. It looks like his total ERAs from AA and AAA don't do his 2007 justice. Zink had a very good year. I read somewhere that a knuckleballer's performance is especially projectible to the majors, that is, a knuckler's numbers in the high levels of the minors shouldn't suffer much when translated to the majors...is that correct? Somewhat correct?

That's what it looks like to me also. Based on these numbers, he's actually a lot like Tim Wakefield. He throws innings, and is fairly reliable to give a solid start most of the time. Not only that, but between being shuffled back & forth and getting bumped in the rotation a few times, he still performed. He threw at least 5 innings in every start except 3, and it seems his hits allowed decreased a bit in AAA while his walks allowed increased. He'll turn 29 next August, so the Sox could give up on him, but if I can read between the lines to see this kid still has something to show, I imagine the club is fully aware of it too.

Especially since the normal age-development timeline is practically irrelevant to knucklers.

I guess the problem Zink has is the quality of pitching in the Sox system means he's very unlikely ever to sniff the majors. It's pretty hard to see any situation in the next few years where he gets up to the big club, when Lester and Buchholz will likely be in the rotation, and people like Masterson, Bowden and friends will be forming an orderly queue to join them.

I love knucklers, purely for the entertainment value of watching them throw. I remember when I first started watching baseball on a family holiday to Boston, there was a game on the TV that Wakefield started. I was transfixed - I'd been used to seeing guys trying to throw at 90+, and then suddenly there's this unassuming chap up on the mound thowing softer than me. I had no idea of the mechanics of the knuckleball at that point, but even with the knowledge I have now, I still look forward to a Wakefield start as more than anyone else in the rotation bar Beckett.

I wish there was some way of seeing Zink replace Wake, because it just feels "good" for the Red Sox to have someone slightly idiosyncratic in the rotation. Sadly I suspect it'll never happen, so I'll enjoy the last few years of Wake as much as I can.

Maybe it would be best for Zink to move to another organisation, where he might get more of a shot at the majors. I know very little about the guy - does he make his off-season home in the NE area and have a strong link to the Sox? The major leagues would be a sad place without the knuckleball, and I'd love there to be a way for Zink to get there.

In Zink's first start with the PawSox, he struggled mightily. 3 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 4 BB.

His second start was an improvement, as he went 4.1 innings, 4 H, no R, and 5 Ks, lowering his ERA to 6.14.

link

Friday, Zink earned the victory in a 17-5 victory over Indianapolis, pitching 5 innings, giving up 1 ER, striking out 4. link

On the season, he's 2-1(4 starts), 3.12 ERA, 16/9 K/BB, in 17.1 innings of work

On Thursday, April 24th, Zink went 6 innings, giving up 9 hits and 2 runs. He didn't get a decision, but the PawSox ended up losing to Syracuse 4-2 when the bullpen let up a pair in the later innings.

On the season, he's 2-1(5 starts), 3.09 ERA, 19/9 K/BB in 23.1 innings of work. Random fact, his Day/Night ERA splits are 7.00/0.63 in 9/14.1 Innings Pitched. Right now, this guy IS like night and day.

Zink earned the victory last night over Rochester, going 6 Innings, giving up 2 R(1 ER) on 4 hits, 2 walks, with 2 Ks in a 4-2 victory. link

On the season, he's 3-1(6 starts), 2.76 ERA, 21/11 K/BB in 29.1 innings of work. Random fact, since his first start, he's given up 4 earned runs in 26.1 innings.

A very long article about Charlie Zink is in the Globe's Sunday Magazine, Imperfect Pitch

A good read about the kid who's probably not very high up, or even on the list of prospects anymore.



Zink is 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA this season in the PawSox rotation

Great read - thanks LRC

With Wake's near-perpetual contract, just having a competent knuckleballer at the AAA level has considerable value to the this franchise, in giving the catchers a living laboratory of sorts to learn to handle it (or demonstrate they can't). Training Kevin Cash, for instance. I imagine there's some value to the up & coming position players as well (Lowrie), getting used to defending a pitch with great unpredictability.

Charlie Zink was the tough luck loser to Durham in a 1-0 loss tonight. Zink pitched 8 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and a walk while striking out 3. link

On the season, Zink is 3-2 in 7 starts with a 2.41 ERA in 37.1 IP, 24/12 K/BB ratio, including 30 hits allowed. Random fact, Zink has allowed 2 home runs this season.

Zink got the win today when he went 6 innings, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits with 5 strikeouts. All of Zink's runs came in the 3rd. He also had a wild pitch and hit a guy.

On the season, Zink is 4-2 in 8 starts with a 2.91 ERA in 43.1 IP, 29/12 K/BB ratio. Random fact, he has only issued 3 walks in his last 28 innings pitched.

Considering Zink's 4 R given up were all in the 3rd inning, it's notable that he went another 3 innings. I don't have the game logs to see if this is different from his trend, but it would appear the ability to throw innings despite that kind of bump during the game is worth noting.

Pawtucket’s Zink dazzles hitters with new arsenal

Zink got a no decision Friday night when he went 5.1 innings, giving up 2 R, only 1 of which was earned in a 4-2 loss to Buffalo. Zink is 4-2 and has a 2.77 ERA in 48.2 IP, 32/15 K/BB ratio. In 3 no decisions this season, Zink has thrown 15.2 innings and given up 2 runs or less in each game.

Zink earned the victory is today's game. He went 6 innings, allowing 2 unearned runs on 1 hit and 4 walks while striking out 4 in a 3-2 victory over the AAA Yanks. In 10 starts, Zink is 5-2 with a 2.47 ERA in 54.2 IP, allowing 42 hits, and a 36/19 K/BB ratio. Random fact, he has allowed 1 earned run or less in 7 of his 10 starts.

So...is there any chance at all that we see this guy in Boston at some point? With the way he's been tearing up AAA this year it would almost seem like an inevitability...September call-up, maybe?

This guy deserves a chance somewhere.

The problem is getting him on the 40-man roster. Colon will take the 39th slot later today. And Schilling will be the 40th man once he is off the 60-day DL. If he continues to be effective, he is a likely call-up but there will need to be a roster move first.

We'll see how long his performance holds up. Knuckleballers are notoriously fickle.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure he'd be that useful in Boston as, Tek can't catch him. I can see him being brought up as a spot starter and maybe being a good trade chip.

I saw him once in Pawtucket and he seemed like a good guy. Hope he gets a shot somewhere.

Then again, if Wake continues to have his back problems in the second half, I can actually see him retiring after this year.

Why can't Varitek catch him?

How much trade value do knucklers have? I would have thought that his trade value is pretty low - maybe an old bat off the bench or a low- to mid-A player with some potential. It's hard to see another team offering much for a guy who developed the knuckler relatively recently and has no major league experience with it. I hope they keep him in Pawtucket until someone gets hurt (probably Wake given his age) and then if circumstances warrant give him a shot for a spot start or some relief work.

I don't think 2002/3 is relatively recently at this point, if it matters.

Probably not in a cosmic sense but from the point of view of him never having thrown it in the majors. Beside the point, however. My real question is: if we're not likely to use him, could we get anything for him? If we can't (and my view is that we can't), then it's a low-cost option that we should keep.

Maybe there's someone who could chime in, but I believe Zink is a ML free agent after this season. I've been wondering if the Sox would consider Zink if Wake missed some time at some point during the season. While it may be too little too late, it does seem Zink has turned a corner. I don't think he's had sustained AAA success like he's having right now.