Michael Kopech

Michael Talbert Kopech
(Kopey)

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 3", Weight 220 lb.
High School Mount Pleasant (TX) High School
Debut August 21, 2018

Born April 30, 1996 in Longview, TX USA

Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Michael Kopech was taken by the Boston Red Sox 33rd overall in the 2014 amateur draft out of high school; the pick was compensation for the loss of Jacoby Ellsbury to free agency. The scout was Tim Collinsworth. Kopech had fanned 129 in 64 IP as a high school senior, going 3-0 with a 0.44 ERA. His signing bonus was $1.678 million.

He pitched for the GCL Red Sox in 2014, going 0-1 with 16 strikeouts and a 4.72 ERA in 13 1/3 innings. In 2015, he was 4-5 with 70 strikeouts and a 2.63 ERA in 65 innings for the Greenville Drive. Going into 2016, he was ranked the #89 prospect in minor league baseball and the #5 prospect in the Red Sox system by Baseball America. Baseball America said he had the best fastball in both the South Atlantic League and the Red Sox chain and the best slider in the Red Sox chain. He was suspended for part of the 2016 season for testing positive for a banned stimulant and also missed some time with a broken following an altercation with his roommate in spring training. He made one start with the Lowell Spinners and 11 with the Salem Red Sox that year. Combined, he was 4-1, 2.08, pitching 56 1/3 innings and striking out 86 while walking 33.

On December 6, 2016, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox along with Yoan Moncada, Luis Alexander Basabe and Victor Diaz in return for ace starter Chris Sale. He was named to the United States team for the 2017 Futures Game. he went 9-8, 2.88 in 25 starts between the AA Birmingham Barons and AAA Charlotte Knights that season. He struck out 172 batters in 134 1/3 innings and was the Southern League Pitcher of the Year. He started 2018 back at Charlotte and was 7-7, 3.70 after 24 starts when the White Sox announced that he would be making his major league debut on August 21st in a start against the Minnesota Twins. He was still overpowering minor league hitters at that point, with 170 strikeouts in 126 1/3 innings, against just 100 hits allowed. It was clearly time for him to show what he could do against major leaguers. In his first start, he pitched 2 scoreless innings, striking out 4, then a 52-minute rain delay meant that he wasn't able to come back for the 3rd. Luis Avilan relieved him. Shortly thereafter, he became the latest player to have his youthful indiscretions on social media catch up with him, as stupid messages dating back to 2013 were unearthed. He quickly deleted these and apologized. He recorded his first career win on August 26th, 7-2 over the Detroit Tigers. However, on September 5th, he had trouble getting loose before a start and after struggling during the game, allowing 7 runs in 3 1/3 innings aginst the Detroit Tigers, he was diagnosed with an elbow injury of the type that would require him to undergo Tommy John surgery. He had gone 1-1, 5.02 in 4 starts.

He missed all of 2019 as a result of the surgery but seemed set to return in 2020 until he decided to sit out the season on July 10th. While he did not make a public announcement like some other players had done, it was assumed his decision was taken out of health and safety concerns. He had been absent from training camp for what had been called personal reasons. It turned out that he was in the middle of divorcing his wife, actress Vanessa Morgan, after only six months, and only days after Morgan announced she was pregnant. He did return in 2021 and was outstanding at the start of the season, striking out 27 batters in his first 15 2/3 innings, to go along with a 1.72 ERA in his first 7 appearances. He was used mainly as a reliever, making 4 starts in his 44 appearances, and going 4-3, 3.50 with 103 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings. He pitched twice in the Division Series against the Houston Astros, and in 3 innings was banged around, allowing 6 runs on 7 hits and a walk, even if he did strike out 5 batters.

In 2022, he was moved back to the starting rotation and over his first 8 starts, while his record was only 1-1, it came with a splendid 1.29 ERA, 17 hits allowed in 42 innings, and 39 strikeouts. In two consecutive starts against the New York Yankees on May 15th and May 22nd, he retired 30 straight batters, three more than are needed to record a perfect game: the last 13 in a 5-1 loss in the first game, and the first 17 in the second. He recorded his first win of the year in that game, but almost ended up with yet another no-decision, as his teammates finally scored their runs in the top of the 8th, after he had clearly expended all of the pitches he had in him that day: he had issued his only two walks of the evening with two outs in the 7th with the game still scoreless before reaching back to strike out Estevan Florial to end the frame. It was clear that manager Tony LaRussa would have taken him out of the game had he failed to retire Florial. He ended up making 25 starts during the season, going 5-9, 3.54 and striking out 105 batters in 119 1/3 innings. However, he had to leave a game on June 12th with discomfort in his right knee, and it was a lingering issue for the remainder of the year. He made a couple of stays on the injured list, in August and September and had an operation on the knee after the season.

In 2023, he started the year slowly as he was just 1-4, 5.74 after his first 8 starts, having gone winless in April. On May 19th, however, he pitched a gem against the Kansas City Royals as he retired the first 16 Royals batters he faced before allowing a single to Michael Massey in the 6th, then did not allow anything else as he completed 8 innings, striking out 10. Kendall Graveman followed with a perfect 9th inning to complete the combined one-hitter for a 2-0 win. For the season, he went 5-12, 5.43 in 30 games, including 27 starts. The 129 1/3 innings he pitched that season were a personal high, but he also led the American League in walks with 91 in spite of not being close to having pitched enough innings to qualify for the ERA title; he did strike out 134 batters, also a personal best, but overall, it was a very disappointing season. This explains why the White Sox decided to give him a new role in 2024, installing him as their closer. While there weren't that any save opportunities for the last-place team, he did manage to record 9 in his first 40 outings through early July, after not recording any in his first four seasons. On July 10th, he became the first White Sox pitcher since Hollis "Sloppy" Thurston in 1923 to pitch an immaculate inning. It came in the 9th inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins, his victims being Brooks Lee, Matt Wallner and Max Kepler as he closed out a 3-1 win. On July 29th, he was one of three veteran players sent by the White Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers, along with P Erick Fedde and OF Tommy Pham, in return for three youngsters and a player to be named later. The Dodgers quickly flipped Fedde and Pham to the St. Louis Cardinals in return for IF Tommy Edman but kept Kopech in order to help a beleaguered bullpen.

His fastball has been timed regularly at 101 mph and as high as 105 mph in a minor league game, which explains why he is such a highly regarded prospect in spite of limited experience.

Notable Achievements[edit]

2017 Pitcher of the Year Southern League Birmingham Barons
Won one World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024

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Michael Kopech

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