Bombs Away

So much for that clean slate Michael Kopech was talking about after his blah spring. Kopech started the home opener for the White Sox yesterday, and it was bombs away for the visiting Giants. By the time manager Pedro Grifol finally saw fit to lift his starter, Kopech had given up five homeruns over 4.2 innings of work in an eventual 12-3 loss for the Sox. The last time Kopech pitched, against a lineup of mostly scrub Cubs, I mentioned he wasn’t likely to get as many strikeouts against a major-league lineup. Yup. Kopech fanned seven Cubs in 4.1 innings (while giving up five runs) vs. five Giants, which comes out to one longball for every punchout. Oh, and seven earned runs. There was some talk yesterday that he might be tipping his pitches. I’m just a fan, but, for what it’s worth, I doubt it, especially with a pitch clock in place. Pre-clock, pitchers set themselves in relative slow motion, and it was easy for hitters to spot a “tell.” Now, pitchers have fifteen seconds to throw the ball. It’s pretty much get ball; get sign; and throw. Kopech’s problem lie elsewhere. The first homer, in the second inning, was on a 3-2 pitch, a 97-mph fastball. Now, I could be wrong here, but after that Kopech never reached ninety-seven. The next four dingers were on pitches ninety-three; eighty-two; eighty; and ninety-five. Also keep in mind that he threw ninety-one pitches, thirty-six for balls and fifty-five for strikes. This tells me Kopech doesn’t have much if any command. Further, he can’t sustain velocity; according to the team website, he averaged 94.4 mph on fifty-one fastballs. If you don’t have command, you need velocity. If you don’t have velocity, you need command. Right now, Kopech is living in the worst of all worlds. To me, something’s wrong with his delivery. Kopech stands 6’3” and weighs 210 pounds, but his delivery doesn’t seem to benefit from his size. Tom Seaver was about his legs, Bob Gibson the entire body, his windup putting him all the way back with a big stride then delivering the ball to the plate. Kopech’s delivery looks like it’s fresh off the shelf from Walmart, and nothing special. Was it like this before Tommy John surgery? In that case, his arm hasn’t come back, and, considering that was four-and-a-half years ago, it’s not going to. In which case, he has to work on command, and I don’t know if you can really teach that. He might be able to increase velocity a little by altering his delivery, but that’s always dicey with pitchers. What it all comes down to is Ethan Katz gets to earn his pay as pitching coach. As for reliever Jose Ruiz, the walk; single; walk; grand slam; and back-to-back homer say it all—he’s not a major-league pitcher. The sooner Garrett Crochet is ready to come back, the better.