After rough season as starter, will Kopech move to White Sox's bullpen?

Michael Kopech doesn't deserve all of the blame for a White Sox season that's gone horribly wrong, but his share is significant.

Expected to finally let it rip this year in the Sox's starting rotation, Kopech has not come close to meeting expectations.

There were the back-to-back starts in May against Kansas City and Cleveland, when the 27-year-old righty combined to pitch 15 scoreless innings, giving up only 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 19.

There was the June 4 outing against Detroit, 2 runs over 7 innings and 9 strikeouts.

When he's on, Kopech is a top-end arm.

Unfortunately, he's been way off this season and Kopech might be spending the final stretch of the season in the White Sox's bullpen.

He was scheduled to start Saturday against the Tigers, but the Sox have it listed as TBA.

"We're still in the process of communicating, not with Kopech, but as an organization, to see what we're going to do," manager Pedro Grifol told reporters before the White Sox's 6-4 win over the Royals Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium. "Why? That's going to stay internal."

Kopech's overall numbers explain a lot.

In the second half of the season, he's 2-5 with a 7.49 ERA and 40 walks in 39⅔ innings.

For the year, Kopech is tied with San Diego's Blake Snell for the major-league lead with 89 walks.

In his last start, Sunday against Detroit at Guaranteed Rate Field, Kopech was lifted with two outs in the second inning after giving up 2 runs on 5 walks and a hit.

"Ultimately, it's been disappointing for me for a long stretch of this season," Kopech said after the abbreviated outing. "Can't begin to describe the disappointment I have in myself. I've been working really hard to fix things and to not see results is frustrating."

In the 2024 rotation, the Sox currently have Dylan Cease and not much else. At 5-12 with a 5.16 ERA for the season, Kopech is far from a lock to keep his starter's job.

Sox snap 5-game skid:

At least the White Sox managed to snap a five-game losing streak Wednesday.

Trying to show he belongs in the starting five next year, Touki Toussaint went 6 innings and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and 3 hits.

Trailing 3-2 in the sixth inning, Andrew Vaughn put the White Sox in front with a 2-run homer and Yoan Moncada followed with a solo shot.