Michael Kopech - Baseball Porn
And by baseball porn... I mean just seeing him throw off a mound, full bore, and "without restriction", per my good friend Rick (Hahn), it's a sight for White Sox fan's sore eyes.
Now I've said throughout the course of the offseason that a LOT of the team's success depends on how much production they get out of Kopech and Carlos Rodon. By all accounts, Kopech is going to start the season in Charlotte and be under close watch by the organization due to not having seen AAA or better hitters in 18+ months.
Do I think he should start the season in Charlotte? We'll get to that in a moment.*** But first, one note that I feel has flown under the radar is that the organization isn't going to necessarily monitor Kopech or Rodon's pitch count or innings limit (though they will to some extent) but that they're going to use science (!!!) to judge their comebacks instead. Shit like measuring their spin rate, fastball explosiveness, and their body's response to each and every start instead ahead of arbitrary inning/pitch thresholds.
That should be music to White Sox fans' freaking ears. The White Sox, a team that has seemingly been behind the curve (though we don't know that for fact) in analytics and scientific approach to development, is using analytics and a scientific approach to development. I fucking love it. And this is why:
I truly believe Michael Kopech is going to be one of the very best pitchers in baseball.
Now, I have been wrong before. I'm probably wrong more often than not when talking baseball. Hand up, I admit that, but that doesn't mean I'll ever shy away from speaking my mind. And I see a pitcher who has one of the very best fastballs in the game when using the eye test...
That, and the kid seemingly "gets it" between his ears. James Fegan of The Athletic had a great interview with him that came out yesterday (paywall) and a few quotes stuck out to me:
“I think it’s different mainly because I had to slow down,” Kopech said. “I didn’t really have a full concept of what it meant to slow down. I just knew that I was moving fast. I felt the anxiety every time I got on the mound, my heart would race. I was trying to slow things down, I just didn’t know how to slow down. When I had to take a step out of it, get away from the game and realize that there’s a lot more to this game than just going out there, trying to compete, trying to win.”
Greg Maddux would always talk about how when he'd get in (rare) jams, he'd take a few MPH off his fastball. He'd slow everything the fuck down, and micro focus on hitting spots. Maddux, one of the best pitchers in history, obviously didn't have a "big" fastball. Kopech does. Most pitchers with a fastball like Kopech's try to throw harder, harder and harder in jams, and that gets most pitchers with big fastballs in even worse trouble.
So you're telling me Kopech has learned how to slow down, microfocus on hitting black with 96 rather than pipe 99 down the middle? Here's my message to Big League hitters:
But... that's not going to be until mid-May if all goes according to plan, unfortunately. It fucking sucks, but the White Sox would be out an entire year of service time if he broke camp with the team, and even though it's been a year and a half since his surgery, they're going to baby him. I am thinking with my heart when I have said publicly and otherwise that I'd have him break camp with the team, but the organization is thinking with their brains. With that said, there's no doubt in my mind he hits the ground running once he does return to Chicago. Every single start is going to be appointment TV for Sox fans and baseball fans in general. This kid is going to be a freak.