Chicago White Sox pitching prospect Kopech chooses boom over bust
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Michael Kopech made it look ridiculously easy last season.
Whether he was posting a 2.87 ERA and striking out 155 in 119⅓ innings at Class AA Birmingham, striking out fellow Chicago White Sox prospect Yoan Moncada in the All-Star Futures Game or closing out the year with 17 strikeouts in 15 innings during 3 starts with Triple-A Charlotte, Kopech showed why he is so highly regarded.
"I'm just trying to take care of business," Kopech said.
Business is booming for the 21-year-old Texan, whom Baseball America ranks 11th on its Top 100 prospects list.
But as he takes the final steps toward the Sox's 25-man roster, Kopech often reminds himself of how he almost became a bust.
Before being acquired from the Red Sox in the Chris Sale trade, Kopech was suspended for 50 games in 2015 after testing positive for Oxilofrine, a banned stimulant.
Returning to spring training with Boston in '16, Kopech fractured his right hand during a fight with a teammate. He didn't pitch again until late June.
That was basically a full season on the shelf for the starting pitcher, and it was anything but easy.
"I feel I've handled quite a bit of adversity, more than most people my age probably," Kopech said. "I failed a drug test and then I broke my hand. That was a complete year off."
Being traded to the White Sox after the 2016 season probably was a good thing for Kopech. He was given a fresh start with a new team, and the hard-throwing pitcher is making the most of it.
"I had a lot of people in my corner at that time, so getting myself out of that, I feel like that was one of the toughest things I've had to do in my career," Kopech said. "It was definitely the toughest thing I had to do in my career.
"But I became more mindful as an athlete. I was already a hard worker, but I became a harder worker. I was trying to dig myself out of a rut.
"For me, that span of not playing really put things in perspective. As an athlete I think that's something that everyone should go through, some kind of failure, some kind of adversity. Unfortunately, I got a heap of it at one time, but I was able to work myself out of it."
Kopech is rapidly working his way to the major leagues, but he has a new outlook on joining the Sox this year - remain calm. That wasn't always the case last season.
"Last year, I think I was a little too anxious," Kopech said. "In midseason, I ran into a few hiccups, a few speed bumps because of that, just getting a little too far ahead of myself. This year, I'm just going to be patient and take it day by day and let the team do the deciding.
"I'm a guy that likes to force the hand a little bit. I'm a guy that can't really slow down, to say the least, but it's something that I had to figure out in the past year or so. I think it will be beneficial for me this year."
To help slow the roll a bit, Kopech started meditating last year.
"I meditate a lot and try to get into that state of mind," he said. "It helps me be relaxed in games and when training comes around. It's just something I picked up last year and started doing before every start. I realized how beneficial it was for me personally and I kept doing it throughout the off-season."
If meditating helps Kopech reach the White Sox sooner than later and fully pitch to his potential, manager Rick Renteria is all for it.
"I think anything these guys continue to learn, they're very young, any method they can use to help them gain control of their excitement and their adrenaline is going to help," Renteria said. "If meditation is part of the process, whatever works."