With Lucas Giolito officially being called up by the White Sox, a roster spot opened up for the Knights. That spot was almost immediately claimed by the top pitching prospect in baseball, Michael Kopech.
Michael Kopech will be promoted to @KnightsBaseball & Lucas Giolito will start for #whitesox on Monday. CWS Top 30: https://t.co/hdxFrY8YFZ pic.twitter.com/09NiRKJe9W
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 18, 2017
The flame throwing 21 year old has been absolutely dominant in Double-A for the Birmingham Barons. In 22 games, he has a 2.87 ERA and has struck out 11.9/9 innings. Kopech has a Chicago ETA of 2018, and is well on pace to hit that mark. If he is as dominant with the Knights as he was with the Barons, there will be no need to wait until the rosters expand next September. In fact, that is probably the absolute latest fans will have to wait to see him debut with the White Sox. Best case scenario would probably be similar to when Yoan Moncada got the call, so sometime shortly after next year’s All-Star break.
The White Sox probably would have been more than fine with waiting until next year for Kopech’s first Charlotte start, but with Giolito getting called up, it really just made too much sense in the end. Kopech can now get a start or two in with the Knights in Triple-A just to get a taste of the next level, and then he should be ready to burst onto the scene next year right out of the gates.
The future is coming White Sox fans. And soon enough, we’ll be saying the future is now.
