'I'm back to trusting my stuff': Sox starter Kopech credits Grifol for recent turnaround
Before his last start, a beauty against the Royals Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, Michael Kopech flipped a switch. He gave much of the credit to first-year manager Pedro Grifol.
"I've talked a lot to Pedro," Kopech said after pitching 8 scoreless innings against Kansas City, allowing just 1 hit and no walks while piling up 10 strikeouts. "I've sat in his office numerous times now and had conversations with him and one thing we've talked about is just being in control. Not losing my aggression, but having controlled aggression. I've got a lot of respect for him. I take what he says very seriously."
He's always had a top of the rotation arm, and now the mental aspect of Kopech's game is soaring.
"The main thing that I talk about with Pedro is being mentally in control out there," Kopech said. "Mechanical things are always going to be daily tweaks that I can work on. That's the beauty of having four days in between, so I can get to work on this stuff every day. But the mentality has to be something that I work on away from the park, no matter where I'm at. I'm certainly hoping that I can take this one with me the rest of the season."
Returning to the mound Wednesday afternoon against the Guardians at Progressive Field, Kopech had everything going again.
In the White Sox's 6-0 win over Cleveland, the right-hander pitched 7 innings and allowed only 2 hits to go with 1 walk and 9 strikeouts.
"I'm back to trusting my stuff," Kopech told reporters after the Sox won two out of three against the Guardians before moving on to Detroit. "I think the first few starts of the season I was kind of searching, trying to feel what it felt like to throw my stuff with confidence again. Now I feel everything working out front. I have good life on my stuff.
"The results are showing up. I'm happy with where I'm at."
With their fifth win in six games, the White Sox (21-30) are finally feeling happy as well after a 7-21 start to the season.
"We're starting to cook and we're starting to flow," Kopech said. "It's no secret we're having to dig out of a rut, so to come out with another series win is big. We know we can win this division. Last year we didn't live up to our potential. To say the least, we know the kind of team we are. With the stretch that we're about to finish off, I think we can put ourselves in a good position.
"I don't think we've been shy about the confidence in ourselves from the beginning. We had a tough stretch early on but we're starting to click and flow. It's starting to happen on all fronts. If we can continue that, it's going to end up being a good run."
The Sox scored all of their runs off Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill in the first four innings.
"My worst outing in a couple years," Quantrill said. "I just really didn't command any of my pitches today."
Second baseman Romy Gonzalez had another productive day with the bat for the White Sox, hitting a 2-run double in the fourth.