It was no secret that Michael Kopech had some nasty stuff when the White Sox acquired him as one of the main pieces in the Chris Sale trade. A flamethrower by nature, Kopech sits at 98 mph, and has been rumored to hit 105 on the radar gun. With his fastball, he also brings a wipeout slider and a decent changeup. The biggest concern with him was his control and his durability.
For a pitcher that throws as hard as Kopech, control will usually be put into question. He was no exception early on as he was walking 5 per 9 innings for Double-A Birmingham. However, since his appearance in the Future’s Game this past All Star break, Kopech has been on an absolute tear.
Last 6 starts in Double-A for Michael Kopech: 41 IP, 21 H, 3 ER, 7 BB, 54 K, HR. That’s an 0.66 ERA. Opponents hitting: .145/.200/.221
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) August 13, 2017
The numbers here that will pop out the most are obviously his ERA and opponent batting average. But the most important stat here is his 7 walks in 6 starts. Kopech was already dominant when he was giving free passes, but with him limiting walks now, he is downright frightening.
The other area of concern was his durability. Before this season he had never gone a full year of pitching due to a hand injury and a suspension for getting into a fight with a former teammate. In fact, as a pro his highest amount of innings pitched before this year was 65. That was back in 2015 with the Red Sox in low A ball. This year, he has thrown 119.1 innings and has consistently kept his velocity up deep into games.
Michael Kopech tonight: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K, 99 pitches. Yup.
— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) August 13, 2017
The fact that he consistently gets into the 90’s with his pitch count is truly remarkable for a kid that throws as hard as he does. He could even be labeled as a “work horse” pitcher, like Justin Verlander or James Shields.
Promotion?
Personally, I’d be shocked if Kopech got promoted to Triple-A. He might get a couple starts in Charlotte if Lucas Giolito gets called up to the White Sox in September when rosters expand, but the organization’s main goal the rest of the season is to keep Kopech healthy. If that means shutting him down for all of September, then that would be fine with me. It would be in the organization’s best interest to just keep him in Birmingham for the remainder of the year. Then next year he can debut with Charlotte and maybe be a September call up in 2018.
The fact of the matter is that Michael Kopech seems to have figured out his control issues without sacrificing his velocity.
The MLB’s no.1 pitching prospect is on his way. When he gets here, look out.
