If you ask any informed baseball fan who the best pitcher in the game right now is, they will answer with Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets. He has been the best for about four years now and there really isn’t any debate. It would be really cool to see the Chicago White Sox have a pitcher like that on their staff one day. The thing that people don’t realize is that Michael Kopech might be on his way to becoming that good.
Michael Kopech of the Chicago White Sox is blooming into a superstar.
In deGrom’s most recent start, he pitched a complete-game shutout. He didn’t give up a single run and only had two hits against with no walks in the nine innings. It was capped off with 15 strikeouts just to show how dominant he actually was. It would be considered lofty expectations to expect Kopech to become as productive as deGrom but it is possible.
deGrom is a two-time Cy Young winner, a three-time all-star, and the winner of an ERA title. Kopech has the talent to do those types of things. He may not ever reach that level but he has the stuff to do so. It also appears that he has the competitive drive to do so as well.
Kopech’s start on Sunday gave a preview of what he can do. Since he is coming back after so much time off, they are easing him back into things. He is only making spot starts and being used out of the bullpen for now.
On Sunday, he threw 87 pitches which is more than double the amount of his previous season-high. Those 87 carried him through 5.0 innings where he had no walks, one run against on four hits, and 10 strikeouts. His stuff was as good as we have seen in the big leagues.
He throws his immaculate two-seamer really hard and it moves as well as any fastball in the league. Hitters often look very confused when he throws it and they cut right through it. Mixing in his breaking pitches makes it even more fun to watch. When you evaluate what he can do, you can’t help but see elite stuff.
If he can somehow take it even a step further, we are talking about one of the five or six best pitchers in the American League. He has the arm talent to be even better than Lucas Giolito who is now in year three of being the White Sox ace. Even if he gets close to deGrom’s level, the White Sox have something special on their hands. Even in 2021, he helps make them a legit World Series contender.