Chicago White Sox RHP Michael Kopech Scouting Report
Michael Kopech is having a successful season at AA in his first season in the Chicago White Sox organization. What can be expected from the flame throwing righty?
Player Profile
The Chicago White Sox acquired Kopech from the Boston Red Sox as part of the deal for ace Chris Sale. Can he be the Chicago White Sox future ace?
Kopech was originally drafted in the first round by the Boston Red Sox in 2014 out of high school in Texas. He fit the traditional Texas high school profile with a big arm and velocity.
The Red Sox sent Kopech to their Gulf Coast League team in his draft year, where he made 8 appearances, throwing 13 1/3 innings, putting up a 4.72 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 15% walk rate, and 26.67% strikeout rate.
Kopech was enjoying an excellent 2015 for low-A Greenville in the South Atlantic League before he was suspended 50 games for a banned stimulant. Before the suspension, he had thrown in 16 games, 15 of them starts, hurling 65 innings with a 2.63 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 10% walk rate, and 25.93% strikeout rate.
In spite of his suspension, Kopech’s excellent season drew the notice of national prospect rankers, as he was rated the #89 prospect in Baseball America’s offseason top prospect list and #98 in the Baseball Prospectus list.
After a suspension, one would think Kopech would have learned his lesson and walked the straight and narrow more than most, but he ended up out at the start of the 2016 season due to an incident in spring training where he broke his pitching hand in a fight with a teammate.
That incident led to Kopech being sidelined until mid-June, making his first appearance June 17th with Lowell in the New York-Penn League. He only made one appearance there before joining Salem in the high-A Carolina League. Combined between the two levels, he made 12 starts, throwing 56 1/3 innings with a 2.08 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 14.67% walk rate, and 38.22% strikeout rate.
After being shorted on innings, the Red Sox sent him to the Arizona Fall League for extra work, and if it weren’t for the incredible performance of Gleyber Torres, Kopech may have had an argument as the MVP of the AFL, as he posted a 3-0 record over 6 starts, throwing 22 1/3 innings with a 2.01 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 9.09% walk rate, and 29.55% strikeout rate.
The performance between Salem and the AFL rocketed Kopech up the rankings to #32 with Baseball America, #16 for MLB Pipeline, and #36 for Baseball Prospectus. He was ranked #22 in the Call To The Pen Top 125 released last January.
The Chicago White Sox acquired Kopech along with Yoan Moncada, Luis Alexander Basabe, and Victor Diaz for Chris Sale on December 6th during the winter meetings.
The White Sox assigned Kopech to AA Birmingham, where he’s posted a 2.66 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 14.06% walk rate, and 33.85% strikeout rate over 9 starts and 47 1/3 innings this season.
Next: Kopech's scouting report