Chicago White Sox: Michael Kopech is looking filthy so far

We know that the Chicago White Sox have an outstanding three-headed monster at the top of their rotation right now. It is cool that Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, and Dallas Keuchel are there ready to lead. Even Dylan Cease is looking like a stud that can be great as well. With that, it is easy to see that Michael Kopech has the potential to be the best pitcher in the entire White Sox organization. His pure stuff is outstanding in every way.

Kopech is a pitcher that can throw a fastball at 100 miles per hour. He can also make that 100 miles per hour fastball dance across the strike zone which is something that most people can’t say. He also has insane-breaking pitches that confuse hitters. He has offspeed pitches that hit the upper 80s but when it follows the 100 miles per hour heater, it looks like a snail.

Michael Kopech seems to be doing great for the Chicago White Sox in Spring Training.

Michael Kopech hasn’t played in a game that counts in a long time. He had the Tommy John surgery at the end of the 2018 season which shut him down for that year and all of 2019. He was set to come back in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. When the MLB came to terms on a 60 game season, he opted out for personal reasons. Now, he is back and looking great.

In yesterday’s exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs, the White Sox used him as a relief pitcher. It is already confirmed that he is going to be coming out of the bullpen to start the season as the White Sox tries to ease him into form. He might be a starter long-term but for now, he will be coming out of the bullpen.

In his one inning appearance, he looked awesome as the setup man. He used his heat and offspeed stuff to get batters out. It did look like he was trying to perfect some of his offspeed pitches instead of just throwing nine straight fastballs. Once the regular season starts, you can expect the Sox and Kopech to have a great plan about his repertoire.

When Kopech is on the mound during the 2021 season, it is going to be appointment television. It will be more sporadic for his time in the bullpen but that is okay. It is easy to use social media to figure out when he might be making an appearance. He looks great so far in spring training and that is a great sign for the White Sox going forward.