WestEddy

Well, if you start a list of Erick Fedde, Jake Burger, Kendall Graveman, Kenyan Middleton, Liam Hendriks, Nick Madrigal, Jose Abreu, Dane Dunning, James McCann and Jose Quintana, you could make an equally erroneous argument about how players seem to fall off a table, or at least never reach the heights they reach in a Sox uniform. It is a crazy conspiracy theory. And not even a good one.

It's not a crusade. I've actually been trying to keep out of these. It's a single comment, where I'm not wrong. Yes, there are anecdotes where a player who was bad here flourished elsewhere. It would be cool if that would only happen to Eloy, Yoan, Tim Anderson, etc. But I'm gonna wait for Vaughn's full year, positive WAR season before I accept the Sox failed him. And Kopech shouldn't even be in that conversation for all he's been through, or more accurately, all of what we've been through. I made a pretty simple statement up front, which wasn't wrong. It doesn't take that much to acknowledge that before the peanut gallery kicks in with the BS. Go in peace.

No, the wrong people need to work on their wrong complex. I'm tired of quoting actual facts - things that actually happened, and that the people involved said actually happened, and wrong people dig in and argue that everybody on Earth's lying because acknowledging reality would mean the White Sox maybe do one thing right, and that would destroy their narratives.

Nobody's saying the White Sox "fixed" him, because he didn't need "fixing". None of what I'm saying is conjecture. It is chiseled in stone, verifiable fact. On July 7th last year, Kopech started the bottom of the 9th against the Marlins in a game the White Sox led 4-3. Kopech faced Vidal Brujan and walked him on six 4-seamers. The next batter was Nick Fortes, who bunted the first pitch, a 4-seam fastball for a sacrifice. The next batter was Jazz Chisolm, who hit the first pitch, a 4-seam fastball for a flyout. Josh Bell came up next, saw six 4-seam fastballs, and hit a double. Do you see a pattern here? Jesus Sanchez was the next batter, and Kopech started him off with a cutter for a strike. He then threw a 4-seamer outside, and another cutter in the dirt before they called an intentional walk. Jake Burger came up next, saw three 4-seam fastballs, and hit a three-run HR. Kopech said this after the game: “It’s coming down to what we talked about a lot lately in-house,” Kopech said. “I need to mix my pitches and not just rely on the fastball so much. It’s difficult to do that when I fall behind and my best pitch is my fastball. I have to get back in the count.” In Kopech's next outing, the 10th inning against the Twins at home on the 8th, Kopech threw 10 pitches, and in no sequence did he throw more than two 4-seam fastballs in a row. See? He started mixing his pitches better. He had said in interviews that the coaches were telling him to mix his pitches. He said Korey Lee helped him be more comfortable with that. That is what happened. His next 4 outings, he mixed his pitches and everything went smoothly. He didn't gain any MPH on his fastball. No extra movement on his cutter or slider. He didn't rework his delivery to hide the ball longer, or whatnot. He stopped throwing the same pitch every single pitch. That is the change he made. He said it was. White Sox people said it was. Dodger people told him to just keep doing what he's been doing, which, now, was mixing his pitches better like the Sox had been harping on him to do, which is all documented and not made up. Oh, okay. He felt happier being at work. But it was the same damned pitch shapes and speeds he was throwing with the White Sox. No changes. The more you dig in, the more obvious it becomes that The White Sox are clearly not at fault where it comes to Kopech. We all agree he's a head case for the ages. He came out and said he wasn't listening to his coaches, and once he did, he started seeing better results. The only logical answer you have now is "Wow, WestEddy, you've been right all along, and I'm just digging in and arguing nonsense because if I give in, that will mean that there is now at least one, single thing the White Sox did right, and this entire BS narrative that gets pushed here is really nonsense."

Kopech was 4-seam, cutter, slider with the Sox, and in his first few games with the Dodgers, Kopech was mostly 4-seam and cutter. After a couple games, he was throwing the same 3-pitch mix he did for the White Sox.

I don't know what to tell you, Tony. I see that he says they changed some things. I acknowledge that. At some point, maybe some of the people piling on here and misrepresenting my point will acknowledge that Kopech seems to be saying that there was no drastic mechanical change that resulted in him becoming a lock down closer with the Dodgers. It's almost like he's saying the main difference was atmosphere, not like the Dodgers reworked his delivery or taught him a pitch.

I just read this a 2nd time. Not saying going to the Dodgers had "no impact". OP said Kopech basically sucked here, got traded, made changes, and became awesome, which isn't the case at all. He sucked here, started listening to his coaches, had a good, albeit short, stretch, got traded, and continued being effective.

That's kind of what Kopech seems to be saying in your quotes. But yeah, good vibes made him mix his pitches more. I guess.

He didn't need fixing. That's the point. All he had to do was stop throwing 4-seamers every single pitch. I'm sure the Dodgers handled him with kid gloves once he got there, and that's why he hasn't been on the IL since. Oh wait...

Yes, that is my argument, because that is irrefutable fact backed up by multiple accounts, including Kopech's own words. The only acceptable response for any reasonable person is, "yes, westeddy, you are correct. Those things you pointed out did happen in that order." I don't know why you need to add your A or B. Kopech probably listened to his coaches selectively, just as your kid probably heeds his mother selectively (per your example). Sometimes he had success, and sometimes he didn't. As for your B, that's insane and completely unreasonable. You're alleging that in 8 years prior, nobody ever gave Kopech a game plan to follow. The fact that the catcher gave him signs relayed by the dugout refutes this. But they were telling reporters he won't listen to them, while not giving him direction, and Kopech decided to go along with that lie, and admit he wasn't following the direction they weren't giving him. Do you see how insane that sounds?!? All in service of distorting the simple fact that Kopech finally, consistently listened to his coaches for his last 5 outings, and finally had consistent success, which then continued after the trade. What you originally claimed is wrong. Admit it, and let's move on.

Well then pick a lane. Either he accepted a change in pitch mix weeks before the TDL and it worked, which is the actual reality of the situation, or reality didn't happen. He quite literally did NOT become shut down the day he became a Dodger. He talked about how he was reluctant to do the actual things the Sox kept telling him to do until right before his 5 strong outings with the White Sox, doing the things they coached him to do. Then he continued having success after the trade. Sure, maybe the Dodgers gained his trust more, and impressed upon Kopech to continue listening to his catcher. Just like the White Sox did when Kopech admitted that Korey Lee was good at impressing upon Kopech to let him call the game. Unless you think Kopech was lying then, and you think the scorekeeper felt bad for all the hits and walks Kopech was giving in his last 5 games with the Sox and decided to just put all zeroes in the box score.

Coincidence? He made the "change" about 3 weeks before he was traded and started throwing clean innings. You can just look at game logs. After a bad outing on 7/7/24 against the Marlins, Kopech said this: 'I've got work to do': Kopech falters, gives up 4 runs in 9th Here's a story from SoxMachine - 7/8/24: Michael Kopech can't shift off his fastball, and Pedro Grifol can't shift off Michael Kopech - Sox Machine Here's pregame notes for the 7/8/24 game, where Grifol reiterates the approach Kopech needs to take: Pregame Notes: No big change in Michael Kopech's role as of yet - Sox Machine Then on 7/10, Kopech threw an immaculate inning against the Twins. Here's discussion on SoxMachine on how he did it: White Sox 3, Twins 1: An immaculate ending - Sox Machine Here's Kopech admitting in the Sun-Times that there's a game plan he's not sure about: White Sox' Michael Kopech finishes Twins with immaculate inning - Chicago Sun-Times From July 8th on, Kopech threw 5.2 innings, allowed 2 baserunners, and struck out 8. We don't need to pretend that Kopech was throwing garbage up until the day he was traded, then miraculously, became a shut down closer the day he put on a Dodger uniform.

I went to look for this...and the inning's over already? Okay, for next inning.

I remember the story of Kopech, and I'll choose the former reason.

Still have the lead. That's a hold, right?

Elvis might want to learn that new and effective "strike" pitch.

Are you driving there? Still tons of road work from Hurricane Helene.

Veni, Vidi, Vargas!!

Am I supposed to do this to keep it all going?

And here's the interview if you'd like to avoid Josh Nelson:

Podcast: Learning about the White Sox hitting efforts with Ryan Fuller - Sox Machine

Take this one home

There's probably a bunch of jawing going on during the AB. That wasn't a thang.

Atlanta sucks!!