Rozner: As Chicago White Sox advertised, Kopech electric

There was a buzz in the air Tuesday night on the South Side.

And it wasn't merely the late-summer, aircraft-sized mosquitoes that invade Chicago this time of year.

It was an unfamiliar excitement surrounding the 2018 White Sox.

During a season in which much misery was expected, fans were gifted a rare treat after the surprising call-up of monster prospect Michael Kopech.

His walk to the bullpen was greeted with a standing ovation. His trip in after warming received the same. His jog to the mound brought yet another. And his first pitch was seen mostly through thousands of smartphones and flashes.

Was it historic? Well, it might be a hair too early to say. One day does not satisfy baseball's curiosity given such a freakish talent.

And it will be years — plural — before we know whether this was the beginning of something quite special, the start of a Hall of Fame career, all-star seasons, Cy Young opportunities … or mere mediocrity.

Regardless of what may come, it was special because it was the major-league launch for a 22-year-old with an exceptional fastball and wipeout breaking stuff.

It was truly an event, this evening at the ballpark, Kopech starting against the Twins and selling about 8,000 extra tickets along the way.

Even the general manager, paid to be cold, calculated and clinical — that is, after all, in the job description — had no choice but to enjoy a proud moment amid a painful rebuild.

“We will be surrounded by people who are excited,” said Rick Hahn. “I know my kids are coming. One of them already has a Kopech jersey.

“As focused as we've all been on the future and the progress we feel we're making, we've also been tested. We understood the patience that this year would require. We knew this would be a challenge for all of us.

“So I do think it's important to try to enjoy these moments along the way when you do see that progress.”

It is Hahn's job to lower expectations at this juncture of the rebuild, especially appropriate when some fanatics went into the season with absurd thoughts of the team competing for a playoff spot.

But Hahn also understands there are times when it's appropriate to celebrate small measures of growth.

“We can talk all we want about how we're only in Year 2 and that it's going to take time and that there's a bright future ahead,” Hahn said. “But we're only human and we're all sports fans and we all want to see a little bit of progress along the way.

“That has nothing to do with the timing of making a move like this, but when a move like this does occur, and when the developmental reasons line up accordingly, I think we all should take a moment to enjoy the progress and enjoy the excitement that comes.”

But …

“Once that moment passes,” Hahn added, “we realize it's back to work because we still have a ways to go.”

It was surprising that the Sox did this, potentially giving up a year of team control by bringing Kopech to the big leagues now instead of next April, though there are never any guarantees that he doesn't see the minors again.

That always feels impossible when a prospect this heralded arrives in the big leagues, but the road to Helena is paved with the careers of prospects who struggled upon first arriving in a two-deck stadium.

Kopech, for his part, hardly seemed out of place against big-league hitters, painting a 96-mph fastball on the outside corner for a strike on the first pitch of his career, but Joe Mauer took the next one right past Kopech and up the middle for a basehit, the veteran with a subtle jab at the fireballing rookie.

No reason to cancel the postgame show, however, since Kopech was absolutely the show Tuesday night. He worked out of a first-and-third, nobody-out jam in the first with a weak pop to left, a strikeout on a check swing at a nasty breaking ball and a soft fly to center.

After throwing 2 scoreless on 3 hits, a hit batter, 4 strikeouts and a whopping 52 pitches — thanks in part to the typically terrible umpiring by C.B. Bucknor — the skies opened up and the game was delayed 52 minutes, meaning it would have been at least an hour between pitches for Kopech.

So the Sox wisely shut down the youngster for the night, much to dismay of the 23,133 on hand, several hundred of whom booed reliever Luis Avilan as he trotted in from the bullpen.

Still, the entire point of bringing Kopech up now was to get all the firsts out of the way, while displaying a ferocious fastball and filthy breaking stuff, and he accomplished some of what he set out to do Tuesday night.

The rest will come in time. That's something the White Sox have plenty of right now.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.