Another storied year of Major League Baseball has come to an end this week. For several years, many members of the Los Angeles Dodgers heard about their 2020 title being nothing more than a fake or “Mickey Mouse” championship. Those Dodgers were able put the critics to rest by taking down the New York Yankees in five games to win the 2024 World Series.
Each member of that team has their own story but one player stuck out more than any other, especially for those viewers watching from Chicago. That player was Dodgers trade deadline acquisition Michael Kopech.
Kopech was originally drafted with the 33rd pick in the first of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox. The Mount Pleasant student-athlete was committed to Arizona but inked a deal with Boston to go pro. He never saw the big leagues with the Red Sox but instead was a key piece in one of the biggest trades in White Sox history.
At winter meeting in 2016, White Sox sent Chris Sale to the Red Sox and received Kopech, Victor Diaz , Luis Alexander Basabe and Yoán Moncada in return. This worked out for Boston as Sale helped win them a World Series in 2018. Although all those players were strong prospects at the time, each of them had varying professional success with Moncada and Kopech being the most notable of the bunch.
He went on to make his debut August 21, 2018 and threw two scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Kopech made three more starts finishing with a 5.02 ERA and a 9.4 K/9 ratio before opting for a Tommy John Surgery to end his season. He sat out 2019 to recover from surgery and sat in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
That 2020 season, the White Sox saw some success and were eager for Kopech to join the team as they were eyeing the AL Central title. In 2021, Kopech made 44 appearances with just four being starts. His his longest outing of 2021 was a five-inning outing on sat on April 25 in which he allowed one run and no walks and struck out 10 opposing batters. In his first season back, he went 4-3 with a 3.50 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 103 strikeouts over 69.1 innings pitched. His 13.4 strikeout per nine innings in 2021 is currently his career-best.
White Sox won the AL Central for the first time in 13 year but did not have any success in the ALDS. And neither did Kopech. He made two appearance and allowed six runs in three innings.
With glimpses of starting success and the want to start, the focus with Kopech was to be a key in the White Sox rotation. In 2022, he was up and down with knee and shoulder issues but managed to pitch 119.1 innings across 25 starts while posting a 3.54 ERA. Despite the success, his walk ratio went up and his strikeout ratio went down. The walks would continue to be an issue the following season.
He went 5-12 across 30 games (27 starts) while posting a career-worst 5.43 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP in a career-high 129.1 innings. Kopech did have a career-high in strikeouts with but saw an uptick in hits and walks. His season came to end early when he had a season-ending surgery to remove a cyst from his knee. Kopech led MLB in walks with 91 in 2023.
White Sox entered 2024 coming off a 101 losses the previous season but made little moves. People did not expect much but what was about to happen, nobody quite predicted something that awful.
Despite the interest to start, Kopech was pushed to the bullpen which might have factored into his play whether he says so or not. Kopech went 0-3 with a 4.41 ERA throughout March and April. In May, eight out of his nine appearances were scoreless. Kopech’s lone bad outing of May came on May 25 when he allowed three runs and two home runs to blow the White Sox lead in Baltimore.
It was a sign of the times for Kopech. He would continue to struggle, posting a 8.10 ERA across 15 starts from June 1 to July 7. This stretch culminate in a walk-off three-run home run by his former teammate Jake Burger in Miami.
That bad outing stuck with him because he was locked in over his next five games in a White Sox uniform. On June 10, he became the first White Sox pitcher in 101 years to throw immaculate inning (1 IP, 0 R, 3 K and nine pitches) in a win.
At this point, Chicago was 15 games into a 21-consecutive game losing streak and 55 games below .500 with little signs of life.
Vinnie Duber reported that day that said Kopech started to lean into White Sox’s game plan for him which include more use of his breaking ball. This paid off. He threw 5.2 scoreless innings with one hit and walk allowed while striking out eight over his final five outings in a Chicago uniform.
In 43 appearances, went 2-8 with a 4.74 ERA (23 ER/43.2 IP), 35 hits, eight home runs, and 24 walks allowed and 59 strikeouts.
Despite once being a key piece for the White Sox, his struggles, paired with the team struggles forced the team to send him away in a deadline deal. At this point, Chicago was 15 games into a 21-consecutive game losing streak and 55 games below .500 with little signs of life.
This three-team deadline trade did not bring the White Sox much but bolstered up an already strong Los Angeles Dodgers team.
The change of scenery worked out well for Kopech as he had 10-straight scoreless outings while allowing just a walk and hit and striking out 15 to start his time with Los Angeles. The 28-year-old reliever was phenomenal down the stretch going 4-0 in 24 games with six saves while posting a 1.13 ERA (3 ER/24 IP) and 0.79 WHIP. He allowed a run in just three regular season games with the Dodgers and opposing batter had a .118 batting average against the righty.
Being able to turn his season around earned him a roster spot in the postseason. During the Dodgers postseason run, Kopech made 10 appearances including a NLCS Game 6 start while going 1-0 with three holds and 3.00 ERA (3 ER/9 IP) while allowing just five hit and seven walks and striking out 10 opposing batters.
The White Sox suffered 101 loss but Michael Kopech was able to walk away and change the narrative surrounding his name by becoming a key contributor for the 2024 World Series winning Los Angeles Dodgers.
So congratulations and good luck the rest of your career, Michael Kopech.
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