Michael Kopech
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Michael Talbert Kopech (born April 30, 1996) is an American
professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...
pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
for the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
of
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2018. Kopech bats and throws right-handed.


Amateur career

Kopech attended Mount Pleasant High School in
Mount Pleasant, Texas Mount Pleasant is the county seat of and largest city in Titus County, Texas, Titus County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, Mount Pleasant's population was 16,047; it is situated in Northeast Texas. ...
. While in high school, he developed a baseball rivalry and eventual friendship with
Patrick Mahomes Patrick Lavon Mahomes II (born September 17, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). The son of former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Pat Mahomes, he initially played c ...
He committed to attend the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...
. Kopech posted a 3–0
win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...
and a 0.44
earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
(ERA) in 11 games for Mount Pleasant,
striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...
129 batters and giving up just 18 walks in 64 innings pitched, while earning 2014 Perfect Game First-Team All-American honors.


Professional career


Boston Red Sox

Kopech was selected by the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
in the first round, with the 33rd overall selection, of the
2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...
. He received a $1.6 million signing bonus from Boston. Kopech started his professional career with the rookie-level
Gulf Coast League Red Sox The Florida Complex League Red Sox are a professional baseball team competing in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (FCL) of Minor League Baseball. The team is owned and operated by the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior ...
in their 2014 season. He posted a 0–1 record and a 4.61 ERA in eight starts, which included 16 strikeouts and nine walks in innings pitched. In 2015, Kopech pitched for the
Greenville Drive The Greenville Drive are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greenville, South Carolina. They are the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and are a member of the South Atlantic League. They play their home games at Fluor Field at the West E ...
of the Class A
South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...
(SAL), where he was 4–5 with a 2.63 ERA in 15 games. He struck out 70 batters and walked 27, in 65 innings, while earning a selection to the SAL All-Star Game. On July 16, he was suspended without pay for 50 games after testing positive for Oxilofrine, which is a banned substance under the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. In the 2016 spring training, Kopech broke his right hand during an altercation involving a roommate. He returned to action in the season-opener for the
Lowell Spinners The Lowell Spinners were a baseball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. With Major League ...
of the
Class A-Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...
New York-Penn League, and was promoted to the
Salem Red Sox The Salem Red Sox are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB), based in Salem, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. The team competes at the Single-A level in the Carolina League. Ho ...
of the
Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...
Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...
. In his first five starts at Salem, Kopech yielded only three earned runs in 29 innings with at least seven strikeouts in every game. In total, Kopech made 11 starts, going 4–1 with a 2.25 ERA across 52 innings. During that stretch, he struck out 82 hitters, the most for a pitcher in MiLB for the month of August. He posted a 2.08 ERA and gave only 29 walks, striking out double-digit batters in four of his last six starts, including a career-high 11 twice. After his solid pitching effort, Kopech was named the Carolina League Player of the Month for August.Kopech Named Carolina League Player of the Month
''MiLB.com''. Retrieved on September 13, 2016.
The award came along with his selection as the league's Pitcher of the Week for August 22–28. He carried a 0.93 ERA into his final start of the season before a tough outing against the
Winston-Salem Dash The Winston-Salem Dash are a Minor League Baseball team in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They are a High-A team in the South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Chicago White Sox since 1997. The Dash began playing their home games a ...
on August 31. Overall, he collected 86 strikeouts in innings during the two stints (13.7 SO/9, 38% of
batters faced In baseball statistics, Batters Faced (BF), also known as Total Batters Faced (TBF) or Batters Facing Pitcher (BFP) is the number of batters who made a plate appearance before the pitcher in a game or in a season. For a given game, the number of ...
), along with a 4–1 record and a 2.08 ERA. According to '' Baseball America'', Kopech threw one of the fastest pitches in professional baseball history against the
Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...
on July 13, 2016. Kopech sat at in the game, and touched and beyond on a regular basis, until a pitch was double checked by different
radar gun A radar speed gun (also radar gun and speed trap gun) is a device used to measure the speed of moving objects. It is used in law-enforcement to measure the speed of moving vehicles and is often used in professional spectator sport, for things su ...
s in the Salem ballpark. In an offseason workout on January 17, 2017, throwing from flat ground with run-up, Kopech threw a pitch that was unofficially clocked at with a ball.


Chicago White Sox

On December 6, 2016, the Red Sox traded Kopech, Yoan Moncada,
Luis Alexander Basabe Luis Alexander Basabe (born August 26, 1996) is a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants. Listed at 6' 0" , 160 lb. , he is a sw ...
, and Victor Diaz to the
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
for
Chris Sale Christopher Allen Sale (born March 30, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, with whom he made his major league debut ...
. In 2017, Kopech was named the starter for the North Division in the
Southern League All-Star Game The Southern League All-Star Game was an annual baseball game sanctioned by Minor League Baseball between professional players from the teams of the Double-A Southern League. Each division, North and South, fielded a team composed of players in ...
after he went 4–3 with a 2.93 ERA over innings and a league best 80 strikeouts in his first 11 starts for the Double-A Birmingham Barons. He was later named to the U.S. team of the 2017 All-Star Futures Game, striking out White Sox teammate Yoan Moncada of the World team. On August 18, 2017, the White Sox promoted Kopech to the Triple-A
Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 20 ...
after he posted a 2.87 ERA over innings in 22 starts with 155 strikeouts. Over his final five starts in Birmingham, Kopech allowed two earned runs and accumulated 49 strikeouts. The White Sox promoted Kopech to the major leagues on August 21, and he made his debut that day. His outing lasted only two innings because of rain. He struck out four batters and did not allow any runs. On his second pitch of the game he gave up his first hit, a single, to
Joe Mauer Joseph Patrick Mauer (born April 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher and first baseman, who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Minnesota Twins. A six-time All-Star, Mauer is the only c ...
. At the time of his debut, he was considered the 13th best prospect in all of MLB. Kopech underwent Tommy John surgery on September 18, putting him out for the rest of the 2018 season plus all of 2019 as well. On July 10, 2020, Kopech announced he would be sitting out the 2020 season due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. Kopech began the 2021 season as a member of the White Sox' pitching staff. On April 2, Kopech made his 2021 debut against the
Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...
coming out of the bullpen going two innings striking out three and walking one and got the win. He made his first start in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
going three innings, only giving up one run and striking out four batters. On May 26, Kopech threw a pitch and then slipped and fell off the mound and was limping into the dugout. He was placed on the 10-day IL with a strained left hamstring on May 31. Kopech was activated off the IL on June 30. Overall in 2021, Kopech appeared in 44 games while starting in four of them with a record of 4–3 with an ERA of 3.50 in innings while striking out 103 batters. In game 3 of the 2021 ALDS against the Houston Astros, Kopech picked up his first career postseason win coming in the second inning for relief of White Sox starter Dylan Cease. Kopech went innings giving up four hits, three runs (including a home run), one walk, and struck out five batters leading the White Sox to a 12–6 victory. In 2022, Kopech made his way to the starting role. During the season, Kopech was on and off the injured list. In a game against the Kansas City Royals, Kopech felt soreness in his left knee before the first pitch but tried to pitch anyway. He ended up leaving the game after facing four batters in the first inning and was placed on the IL with a left knee strain. Kopech made two more starts before he was placed on the IL again on September 17 with right shoulder inflammation and was shut down for the season. Overall in 2022, Kopech made 25 starts posting a 5–9 record with a 3.54 ERA in innings with 105 strikeouts and 57 walks. He led the major leagues in highest walk percentage, at 11.5%.


Personal life

In 2019, Kopech announced his engagement to Canadian actress
Vanessa Morgan Vanessa Morgan Mziray (born March 23, 1992), known professionally as Vanessa Morgan, is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Beatrix "Bird" Castro in the MTV teen drama series ''Finding Carter'', as Amanda Pierce in the Family teen ...
. Kopech and Morgan married in January 2020, but Kopech filed for divorce shortly thereafter in June 2020. Morgan gave birth to their son in January 2021. In May 2022, Kopech was placed on paternity leave to be present for the birth of his second child with his new girlfriend


References


External links

, o
MiLB.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kopech, Michal 1996 births Living people People from Mount Pleasant, Texas Baseball players from Texas Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago White Sox players Gulf Coast Red Sox players Greenville Drive players Lowell Spinners players Salem Red Sox players Surprise Saguaros players Birmingham Barons players Charlotte Knights players