After facing just four batters, Michael Kopech was removed from his Monday start with left knee soreness. He threw 19 pitches, with just nine of them going for strikes. He will be further evaluated.
Michael Kopech appeared to be in pain while throwing his warmup pitches before taking the mound in Kansas City. It looked like he tweaked something in his leg because there was something off about his landing when he threw.
Still, Tony La Russa let him take the mound. Kopech tried to gut it out, but it was clear that he should not have been out there. He walked MJ Melendez to open the game, then hit Bobby Witt Jr. with a pitch. While trainers attended to Witt, Kopech threw a few warmup pitches. His balance was off, and he kept trying to stretch out his knee.
When play resumed, Kopech served up a single to Salvador Perez that allowed Melendez to score. After walking Vinnie Pasquantino, it was clear that he was uncomfortable. Tony La Russa finally came out to lift a Kopech from the game.
That left Jimmy Lambert with the bases loaded and nobody out. A frustrated Kopech screamed into his glove as he walked towards the dugout. All three runners that Lambert inherited came around to score, making Kopech’s final line read four earned runs on one hit and two walks. His ERA moved to 3.58 on the season.
Keep him out. My grandfather told me about Dizzy Dean’s demise. Dated reference waited on younger fans! A line drive during an all-star game fractured Dean’s toe. Dean was famously quoted as saying (my grandfather said it, so it had to have happened), “Fractured! Hell the damn thing’s broken.” Fractured or broken, Dean tried to pitch before it was fully healed. He compensated for the pounding his toe took and screwed up what’s now referred to as the kinetic chain a pitcher uses to deliver a pitch. Unfortunately, Dean suffered from arm troubles and was never the same. Is Kopech… Read more »
Poog guy, he wants to compete so bad but you can tell he’s not right. Ever since he tweaked his knee in June he isn’t following through consistently and you can see the difference in power. Might have to close him out for the season before it gets worse. Injuries have killed us this year!
He hasn’t been right for a long time . Shut him down .