Michael Kopech is throwing meaningful innings once again. After spending the first half of the season in the shackles of the worst team in baseball, the former White Sox pitcher is thriving.
Since being traded to the Dodgers, manager Dave Roberts has deployed Kopech in various high-leverage situations. On Sunday Kopech came trotting out of the Busch Field bullpen in left field in the ninth inning of a 2-1 game against the Cardinals to lock down a save. Despite a throwing error from his catcher Austin Barnes, Kopech still managed to face the minimum after inducing a game-ending 6-4-3 off the bat of Nolan Arendado.
The save marked Koepch’s second of the series and 11th of the season. It appears Roberts is getting increasingly comfortable putting the game in the 28-year-old’s hands. Kopech has been trusted with each of the Dodgers’ last two save opportunities while their previous closer, Evan Phillps was used as a setup man on Sunday.
Kopech has dominated since the White Sox traded him in a three-team deal, that coincidentally included the same team he earned a pair of saves on this weekend. In 9.1 innings of work with the Dodgers, he has yet to allow a run. During that stretch, he has only given up one hit and one walk. Meanwhile, opponents are batting .034 off of him with 13 strikeouts. His spotless 0.00 ERA and near-perfect 0.21 WHIP are paired with four holds, two saves, and a win. With each passing day, it’s beginning to look like White Sox GM Chris Getz sold low on the former top prospect.
Kopech showed flashes of brilliance with the White Sox, both as a starter and out of the bullpen. But for whatever reason he never seemed to be able to string together consistent results. He entered spring training with the hopes of being a starter. He trained all offseason for a starter’s workload before abruptly being moved to the bullpen. It was a move that made sense at the time.
However, there was a sense that Kopech was frustrated with the move and it took time to buy in. After blowing a save against the Marlins he admitted that he was hesitant to embrace the White Sox game plan for him which included throwing more breaking balls. After leaning into it on July 10th he made headlines by throwing an immaculate inning against the Twins.
There was plenty of reason for optimism that Kopech could be an effective reliever. He spent the bulk of his time in the White Sox bullpen in 2021, producing solid results. In 44 appearances he posted a 3.50 ERA and 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
In 43.2 innings out of the White Sox bullpen this season he logged nine saves and struck out 30.9% of batters he faced, which ranked among the highest percentages in baseball. He was also able to reach back and let his fastball eat. His 99 mph fastball ranked in the MLB’s 99th percentile, while opponents .204 expected batting average ranked in the 89th percentile. However many of the positives were overshadowed by a 13% walk rate and 4.47 ERA. As a result, the White Sox were eager to ship him off after a roller coaster five-year career, filled with injuries and inconsistent performance.
The fact that the Dodgers, a team that is in a dogfight for the NL West division title are trusting Kopech in the ninth inning is telling. It was never about his ability. Out of all the players the White Sox traded away at the deadline, Kopech is easily the most talented. It was always between the ears that was in question, and the White Sox failed to do him any favors.
It is still too early to determine if the White Sox lost the trade. But the early returns are concerning. Kopech was dealt with Erick Fedde, who was under team control for another season, and Tommy Pham in exchange for three prospects, one of which (Miguel Vargus) is hitting .102/.228/.184 while another (Alexander Albertus) is out for the season with an injury.
It’s hard not to be happy for Kopech. He dealt with his fair share of adversity on the South Side. His rookie year was cut short after four starts due to season-ending Tommy John surgery in 2018. He missed the entire 2019 campaign recovering from the surgery, then opted out of the 2020 season due to personal reasons. He found success in the bullpen in 2021, and showed promise as a starter in 2022 posting a 3.54 ERA, before a disastrous 2023 season got him demoted back to the bullpen.
Through it all he has found himself in a much better place. Traded to a stable organization with a history of investing in players and a winning culture. If Kopech continues at this current rate, Chris Getz will be kicking himself for trading him for pennies on the dollar.
