Why Charlotte Knights’ first-year manager feels more than ready to make Triple-A debut

Justin Jirschele still remembers walking onto the ballpark grass in uptown Charlotte in 2014 and noticing how “everything went away.”

This was back when he was 24 years old, when he was a utility player with big-league dreams. He’d spent the bulk of his young career to that point in Single-A — but he was called up to the Knights the night before, and had to hop on a flight that morning to Charlotte. He got no sleep and was understandably a bit nervous, he remembers.

That is, until he walked through the tunnel.

“Walking through that tunnel and looking and seeing the view, everything went away,” Jirschele said with a smile. “You knew it was just come out and show up and play. Because obviously once you step on this field in front of these fans in Charlotte, and the adrenaline takes over, it’s still the great game of baseball.”

Jirschele (pronounced Jersh-ly) shared this story with reporters Wednesday afternoon on a sunny day on Truist Field in Charlotte. He was on the same field as he was nine years ago, repping the same team — but instead of readying for his Triple-A debut as a player, he was readying for his debut as a Triple-A manager.

The first-year skipper will see the Knights open their 2023 season at home Friday at 6 p.m.

“It’s exciting,” Jirschele said.

The Knights are the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.

It’s not sensational to say Jirschele, 32, was born into baseball. His father, Mike, has been a professional baseball coach for decades and was most notably the third-base coach during the Kansas City Royals’ 2015 season that ended in a World Series title.

Justin said he spent a lot of time in pro ball dugouts growing up. He goes by “Jirsh” — just like his Dad always has. When his father couldn’t make his baseball games growing up, Justin said, his mother would take videos of his at-bats to “send to Dad to see if he saw anything.”

Justin said he “leans on his father” and regularly asks him questions, considering all he’s seen.

It’s worth noting that the two are going to be competitors this year, too. Mike Jirschele is the manager of the Kansas City Royals’ Triple-A affiliate, the Omaha Stormchasers.

Any father-son rivalry brewing?

“At Christmas it came up with my extended family that if we both have good years and end up meeting in the playoffs, it would be pretty special,” Jirschele said. “There’s been some banter going around: Us asking our family whose pass list they’re going to be on if we end up playing each other in the playoffs and what they’re going to be wearing that night and who they’re going to be cheering for.

“But it’s all in good fun. And I lean on him tremendously for everything that comes up in the game.”

Jirschele had a minor-league career that spanned three years and saw stints with a handful of teams — all of which were within the White Sox organization. After the 2015 season, Jirschele began his career in coaching and never stopped.

He began as hitting coach at Kannapolis (the Single-A affiliate of the White Sox) before becoming the manager of the team from 2017-18. He later managed Winston-Salem (A+) in 2019, and then Birmingham in 2021 and 2022.

One player who knows Jirschele as a coach well is catcher Evan Skoug. The catcher has played for Jirschele in all but one year of his seven-year career.

“He’s great,” Skoug told The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday. “I like Jirsh. He’s a very player-friendly coach. He’s pretty close in age. He’s a great person to talk to if you need somebody because he can relate to it, he played, been in baseball a long time. But outside of that, just on a personal level, he’s the same person every day.”

Skoug mentioned the methods Jirschele has used at previous spots to keep things light. The catcher recalled his coach having his team do karaoke on long bus trips. One year, at one stop, Skoug played for an organization with an old-school boss who implemented a “no-beard policy,” and Jirschele would have to fine Skoug a few dollars whenever Skoug came in with some stubble.

“He always got me for like $10,” Skoug said with a chuckle, a thick brown beard now framing his face. “But he always bought us food, or always bought us stuff with our fine money, so that was cool.”

Jirschele has made a good impression on the guys he’s just met, too. One of those guys is Billy Hamilton.

The center fielder is among the most recognizable players on the Knights’ roster this season considering his previous MLB experience. He’s known for his speed and infectious personality.

“Over the course of spring training, I felt like I got to know him a lot,” Hamilton said. “Like I said, he’s just one of those guys you definitely want to play for. He wants to win. That’s the good thing about it.”

Of course, Hamilton knew another guy called “Jirsh” well.

Justin’s father.

“He was my third base coach (in Kansas City),” Hamilton said of Mike Jirschele. Hamilton then told a story: “We were in Seattle. And I scored from second base on a sac fly. And after the game, the media talked to me about it ... and I said, ‘He was waving me home.’”

Hamilton then laughed: “It didn’t matter if he was waving me home or not” — because he was going regardless.

Hamilton was then asked if he expects the younger Jirschele to allow him to attempt to steal a time or two this season.

Hamilton chuckled and said he has the “green light” from his coach do it if he wants. It’s hard to imagine Justin’s father would disagree.