White Sox: Michael Kopech might have not been the answer
Michael Kopech might have not been the answer for the 2020 Chicago White Sox.
The Chicago White Sox learned something about themselves in 2020. They can score runs whenever they want (for the most part) and it is only going to get better. The issue for them once the playoffs came around was their confidence in their starting pitching. Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel were the locks to be the first two starters but it was bleak beyond that. They didn’t show much faith in anyone after the first two.
They went into the third game (an elimination game) with the mentality of a “bullpen game”. They started with Dane Dunning but only allowed him to get two outs. They quickly pulled the plug on every pitcher and it was a disaster. They lost the game and it was apparent that they need to either start finding the confidence in one of their own as the third starter or find a guy from the outside. They didn’t make a trade deadline acquisition but it is still better that they didn’t start to break the farm for this strange 2020 season.
A lot of people think that if Michael Kopech were there, they would have had that third spot locked in for sure. That could have been the case but it is far from a lock. He is a pitcher that has a wicked fastball that moves. Not many people in the world can do what he can with a baseball. With that said, he hasn’t pitched in a Major League game in over two years so it isn’t a guarantee that he would come in and be as dominant right away. It might take some time.
It is good that he took 2020 to get himself right in all areas and we are so excited to have him in 2021. The hope is that his arm is great after the Tommy John surgery so he can get plenty of starts next year. He looked really good in Spring Training before COVID-19 put a damper on the year. He opted out of this 2020 season so we just have to hope 2021 brings big things.
Hot. 2020 was house money for the Chicago White Sox. light
He was in a lot of those rumors surrounding White Sox trades at the deadline. They decided to keep him so that they don’t have to see him turn into a star somewhere else. That might prove to be an excellent decision in the future but you can’t expect him to be Chris Sale in his first full year.