Rain fails to dampen Kopech's debut with Chicago White Sox

Patient Chicago White Sox fans finally were rewarded Tuesday night.

“It was pretty exciting stuff,” Michael Kopech said. “I didn't really know how many people were going to be here tonight. It was exciting to see how invested the fans were tonight. Standing ovation pretty much every time I had two strikes.

“I didn't really expect that. It made me feel like I was in a big-time game, and I guess it was a big-time game for me.”

It turned out to be an abbreviated game due to a rain delay, but Kopech showed why he's considered a top-end starter of the future in his major-league debut at Guaranteed Rate Field.

From the minute the 22-year-old pitcher walked into the Sox's clubhouse, the energy level seemed to rise.

“Finally,” said Carlos Rodon, the White Sox's No. 1 starter. “Been waiting for him all year long. I'm sure you've heard this a thousand times, but it's just exciting for us to bring a big piece.”

Until the rains came, the crowd of 23,133 finally had something to cheer about.

Fans hovered over the Sox's bullpen before the game to get an up-close look at Kopech warming up, they got loud when he took the mound for the first time, and the volume jumped even higher when Kopech's first major-league pitch was a 96-mph strike to the Twins' Joe Mauer.

“We're all very excited,” said bench coach Joe McEwing, who is filling in for ailing manager Rick Renteria. “We're excited as an organization, we're excited as a city. He brings a lot of positive energy to what we're building here.”

Expected to be a foundation in the White Sox's rebuild, Kopech was sweating from the moment he stepped on the mound. He never lost his cool.

Mauer led off the game with a single and moved to third when Eddie Rosario followed with another single.

Kopech worked out of the jam, retiring Jorge Polanco on a flyball to short left field, striking out Miguel Sano and getting Max Kepler on a fly to center.

In the second inning, Kopech struck out the first two Minnesota hitters he faced before hitting Robbie Grossman with a pitch and yielding a single to No. 9 hitter Bobby Wilson.

Kopech calmly wiggled out again, getting Mauer on a called third strike.

After Yoan Moncada homered in the seventh inning to tie the game, the Twins scored 3 runs in the ninth and beat the White Sox 5-2.

Heavy rains hit the South Side in the bottom of the second inning, and a 52-minute delay cut Kopech's debut short.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder threw 52 pitches in 2 innings, and 42 were fastballs. Kopech's heat topped out at 98 mph and never dipped below 95.

“It (stinks) that the rain happened and it was only 2 innings,” he said, “but at least I got my feet wet and get a chance to get ready for the next one.”

As his major-league career progresses, Kopech undoubtedly is going to throw more curveballs, sliders and changeups, pitches he briefly flashed in his first game.

“It's going to be fun to see how hard he throws,” Rodon said before the game. “But the thing about this league is it doesn't matter how hard you throw because they're still going to hit it. Just locate it.”

All things considered, Kopech was a big hit in his first start. The Sox estimate almost 8,000 tickets were sold after announcing Sunday afternoon that he was coming up from Class AAA Charlotte.

“He's a pretty special individual,” McEwing said. “There's still going to be a process. It's not going to be instant gratification. It's going to be a process where he's going to continue to grow with every pitch, every inning, every outing and continue to build on that.”