All-Decade Team (2010-19): Outfielders

Leading into what would have been Opening Day of the 2020 season for the Charlotte Knights (April 9), the team's VP of Communications, Tommy Viola, will unveil the Charlotte Knights All-Decade Team (2010-19). Check back each weekday to see who made the team.

OUTFIELD: JORDAN DANKS - JASON COATS - DAYAN VICIEDO

Over the course of the last decade, the Charlotte Knights featured a number of talented outfielders. At the start of the decade, the lineup featured a number of prospects. And, as the decade came to a close, the organization saw two of their future stars quickly make their way through Charlotte in limited time (Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert).

OUTFIELD: JORDAN DANKS: READ FULL ARTICLE

OUTFIELD: JASON COATS: READ FULL ARTICLE

OUTFIELD: DAYAN VICIEDO: READ FULL ARTICLE

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Before the last decade, Jason Bourgeois had already appeared in 211 games for the Knights over parts of two seasons (2007-2008). In 2007, he hit .311 with seven home runs, 34 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. The Texas native returned to the Knights a year later and hit .286 with nine home runs, five triples, 48 RBIs and 30 stolen bases.

Bourgeois was back with the Knights nearly 10 years later as he returned in 2016 and again in 2017. On August 13, 2017, Bourgeois became just the third player in franchise history to join the Charlotte Knights 400-Hit Club. He recorded his 400th career Charlotte Knights hit in the top of the seventh inning against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs from Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, PA.

For his Knights career, Bourgeois ranks third overall in franchise history in hits with 404 hits behind all-time Knights hits leader, Jordan Danks (449), and Joe Borchard (439).

Bourgeois also ranks among the all-time franchise leaders in a number of other categories, including: third all-time in at-bats (1,415), third in games played (368), third in runs scored (191), second in stolen bases (71), tied for seventh in doubles (66), and tied for second all-time in triples with Ken Ramos (11). In 2013, he was named to the All Knights Stadium Team. He is also just one of five players in franchise history with 300 or more hits.

Stefan Gartrell made his Knights debut in 2009 and in limited action (31 games) hit .265 with four home runs and 19 RBIs. In 2010, he broke-out with the bat and amassed a .255 batting average with 27 home runs and 80 RBIs in 139 games. Gartrell appeared in just seven games for the Knights the following season before being traded over to the Braves organization, where he hit .260 with 25 home runs and 91 RBIs in 116 games.

Alejandro De Aza led the International League in 2011 with a .322 batting average. He appeared in 99 games that season and also had nine home runs, 37 RBIs, 29 doubles, five triples, and 64 runs scored. His .322 mark is the third-best in Knights franchise history (single season). It was his second-straight season with the club. In 2010, he hit .302 in 79 games.

Jacob May racked up 65 stolen bases over parts of three seasons with the Knights from 2016-18. May, who appeared in a total of 274 games with the Knights, hit .266 with 263 hits, 122 runs scored, 48 doubles, eight triples, seven home runs, and 81 RBIs. His 65 steals rank third all-time in franchise history. He swiped a team-high 31 in 2017, which rank as the eighth-highest single-season mark in franchise history.

Trayce Thompson made his Triple-A debut in 2012 with the Knights as a 21-year-old and appeared in six games. Three years later, he represented the Charlotte Knights at the 2015 Triple-A All-Star Game. At the time of the selection, the talented outfielder was first in the IL in games played (79), second in runs scored (43), third in at-bats (294), fifth in slugging percentage (.452), and third in extra-base hits (31). In his first full season at the Triple-A level, Thompson hit .260 with 101 hits, 53 runs scored, 23 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs, 39 RBIs and 11 stolen bases over 104 games. He made his major league debut on August 4, 2015.

Rymer Liriano had a solid season with the Knights in 2017. In 123 games with the Knights, Liriano hit .256 with 115 hits, 67 runs scored, 15 doubles, three triples, 17 home runs, 52 RBIs, and seven stolen bases. He was named as the International League’s Batter of the Week for the period of August 7-13 (2017) after he hit .345 (10-for-29) with seven runs scored, three home runs and seven RBIs.

Daniel Palka saw limited action with the Charlotte Knights in 2018 (17 games) before making his way to Chicago that season and finishing fifth in the American League's Rookie of the Year voting. Palka, who hit 27 home runs in 2018 with the White Sox, got off to a slow start with Chicago in 2019 and was optioned to the Knights on April 17. He had a tremendous season with the Knights en route to earning a promotion in September. For the 2019 season with the Knights, he hit .263 (104-for-395) with 83 runs scored, 23 doubles, 27 home runs, and 72 RBIs in 106 games. He finished ninth in the IL in home runs (27), tied for third in runs scored (83), tied for second in walks (72), 10th in on-base percentage (.374), tied for sixth in slugging percentage (.527), and eighth in OPS (.901).

NEW CROP OF SUPERSTARS MAKE THEIR WAY THROUGH CHARLOTTE IN 2018 & 2019

OF Eloy Jiménez, who spent the 2018 season ranked as the top prospect in the Chicago White Sox system by Baseball America and MLB.com, had a year to remember. He compiled a .355 batting average (75-for-211) with 28 runs scored, 13 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs, and 33 RBIs over 55 games with the Knights. He was named as the Chicago White Sox Minor League Player of the Month in July. The talented Jiménez hit .435 (27-for-62) with 13 runs scored, six home runs, and 13 RBIs over 16 games in July.

A native of Santo Domingo, DR, Jiménez compiled a .317 (65-for-205) batting average with 36 runs scored, 15 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, and 42 RBIs over 53 games with the Barons in 2018. At the time of his promotion to Charlotte on June 21st, he ranked second in the Southern League in batting average, tied for fifth in home runs, tied for second in RBIs, and first in slugging percentage (.556). He represented the Barons at the 2018 Southern League All-Star Game. Overall in 2018, he hit .337 (140-for-416) with 64 runs scored, 28 doubles, three triples, 22 home runs, and 75 RBIs in 108 games combined (Birmingham and Charlotte).

In 2019, Luis Robert hit .328 (165-for-503) with 108 runs scored, 31 doubles, 11 triples, 32 home runs, 92 RBIs, and 36 stolen bases combined over 122 games with Winston-Salem (High-A), Birmingham (Double-A), and Charlotte (Triple-A). With the Knights, the Cuban native hit .297 (60-for-202) with 44 runs scored, 10 doubles, five triples, 16 home runs, 39 RBIs, and seven stolen bases in 47 games. Robert finished the season as a member of the exclusive 30-30 club, swatting 32 home runs and stealing 36 bases.