White Sox will be counting on Kopech in the second half of the season and beyond
The White Sox are going to need starting pitcher Michael Kopech after the All-Star break, in more ways than one.
If they're still contending in the AL Central - far and away the worst division in baseball - Kopech can help the Sox make an improbable push.
Much more likely, a White Sox team that's going nowhere fast is going to need Kopech to eat up some innings after Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn are traded before the Aug. 1 deadline.
Dylan Cease is likely to stay put since he's under contractual control through the 2025 season, but he could also be moved if general manager Rick Hahn gets a trade offer too good to pass up.
Kopech has been on the injured list since June 29 with right shoulder inflammation, but he should be back on the mound shortly after games resume in the second half of the season late next week.
"Right now, with the rest and everything we've been doing, I feel like I'm in a pretty good position," Kopech said. "Feeling stronger every day. I've been really excited about how my catch play feels. I think we are in a good position.
"I was a little bit achy toward the end there. I was just fighting through some general soreness, and it got to a point where it seemed like it was taking more to fight than it was to compete. So we shut it down."
Kopech didn't look right over his last three starts before going on the IL. In just 12⅓ combined innings against the Mariners, Rangers and Angels, he issued a whopping 16 walks while allowing 6 runs on 14 hits.
"I'm not one to try to make any excuses for how I pitched or anything," Kopech said. "With that being said, sometimes when you are feeling good, it's a lot easier to command the ball. That's what makes the greats in this game great in that they find a way no matter what.
"Unfortunately, I was just putting myself in a position where I was on the defensive the whole time. Hopefully get back, everything is cleaned up, but not really an excuse for getting behind and not pitching well."
When he was feeling better earlier in the season, Kopech was delivering starts like the back-to-back outings against Kansas City and Cleveland in May, when he pitched a combined 15 scoreless innings, allowed 3 hits and only 1 walk, and piled up 19 strikeouts.
"At certain times, he's been one of the best pitchers in the game," Sox manager Pedro Grifol said.
Kopech has certainly shown that potential, but the White Sox are being as careful as possible with the 27-year-old righty.
After missing the 2019 season recovering from Tommy John surgery and opting out in 2020 due to COVID-19, Kopech is still not a finished product.
And he's already pitched 86 innings this year after establishing a career-high 119.1 last season.
The goal is for Kopech to be activated shortly after the break, finish up strong and be even better in 2024. In 16 starts this season, the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is 3-7 with a 4.08 ERA and 97 strikeouts.
"This has been a really good year for him," Grifol said. "Not only on the mound, but it's been a really good development year for him. He's going to end up being a 1 or 2 (starter) down the road, and all that has happened this year for him, it's teaching him how to do that. Being a 1, 2 or 3 starter in the big leagues and toeing the rubber 32, 33 times and throwing 180-90 innings, there's a process to it.
"You don't just fall out of bed and say, 'I'm going to give you 190 innings.' It's a grind. He's in it right now, he's in that development period to where it's not about just getting guys out, it's about navigating a major league season."