February 15, 20206 yr No news regarding Kopech, but I just wanted to say that I think this guy is going to be a stud in the big leagues. He seems to have some of the best work ethic on the team, and from what I can tell, the injury has brought new perspective when it comes to pitching. I personally hope they start him in Charlotte just to get him used to facing live batters again, but when he comes up, assuming he starts in AAA, I think he is going to make a tremendous impact on this ball club.
February 15, 20206 yr Can't wait to see him up agaim If he can reach what he was destined to be and join Giolito, we can have co-aces Not to mention MiLB Pitcher of the Year Dylan Cease who's been compared to Verlander or ReyLo who has flashed pure dominance Rodon, Dunning, Lambert await too https://memes.yarn.co/yarn-clip/b71fd181-dec7-4e27-a463-5493c66a19be#2kkEl_lVE.copy
February 15, 20206 yr We are going to shit all over other recent unsustainable rebuilds. Can’t wait. Decades of dominance
February 15, 20206 yr 1 hour ago, Pal said: I saw Baseball America this week believes his ceiling is being a #3. Is that cause of the surgery? I tell you, surgery is so common now that if Baseball America says he's a 3 because of arm surgery, then there will be a lot of projected 3 4 and 5s in baseball, cause it seems all young starters have surgery.
February 15, 20206 yr 1 hour ago, Pal said: I saw Baseball America this week believes his ceiling is being a #3. Seems like there are some concerns in scouting land about his secondary stuff ever developing. I dunno. He seems like a guy that can pitch off the velocity and spin rate on his fastball well enough.
February 15, 20206 yr I don't think we can pencil him in for anything at this point. We gotta see how he pitches first. Spring training will be a welcomed sight (assuming hes pitching then). I think we will get a lot of our information from that.
February 15, 20206 yr 1 hour ago, chitownsportsfan said: Seems like there are some concerns in scouting land about his secondary stuff ever developing. I dunno. He seems like a guy that can pitch off the velocity and spin rate on his fastball well enough. Kopech had one of the best sliders in the minors, just needs to further develop the curve but he threw a few nasty ones in his short time with the Sox.
February 16, 20206 yr 2 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said: He seems like a guy that can pitch off the velocity and spin rate on his fastball well enough. Yea his spin rate is unreal. Verlander like upper echelon.
February 16, 20206 yr 15 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said: Seems like there are some concerns in scouting land about his secondary stuff ever developing. I dunno. He seems like a guy that can pitch off the velocity and spin rate on his fastball well enough. I think it's that combined with his lack of control, or at least his history of it. He looked really good in the high minors in 2018 though, so maybe that's taken a step forward.
February 16, 20206 yr Just thinking of this makes me remember how much 2018 sucked. Giolito was the worst pitcher in baseball. Moncada was underperforming. Then Kopech comes up and all of baseball media is watching. We get two innings. Then the next start he’s blown out, his fastball is weirdly low and suddenly he’s gone for TJS. Eloy was the thing keeping it all afloat. 2019 everything just flipped on it’s head in the best way. But I think I still have worst case scenario 2018 thoughts around kopech, fun to think about how he could come up and shove.
February 16, 20206 yr He had a couple nice outings between the debut and the blowout where he was clearly hurt. He looked like he had conquered some of the control problems that plagued him earlier that season. In any event, I’m really excited to see his progress this year but prepared to be patient.
February 16, 20206 yr I was at his final start before TJS. I took my wife and I talked up his velocity the whole way there. All of a sudden he was throwing 93-94 during the game. Someone from DET hit one to the moon. I knew something was up. Here's to hoping he comes back better than ever.
February 16, 20206 yr Kopech obviously has a world of talent, but I don't expect big things from him in 2020. He has only a tiny bit of major league experience and he still has to work on his command. 2020 is going to be a learning year him. If he develops quickly that would be great, but I see him as a young player who will do what other young players have to do: Learn to be a major leaguer.
February 17, 20206 yr On 2/16/2020 at 8:01 AM, bmags said: Just thinking of this makes me remember how much 2018 sucked. Giolito was the worst pitcher in baseball. Moncada was underperforming. Then Kopech comes up and all of baseball media is watching. We get two innings. Then the next start he’s blown out, his fastball is weirdly low and suddenly he’s gone for TJS. Eloy was the thing keeping it all afloat. 2019 everything just flipped on it’s head in the best way. But I think I still have worst case scenario 2018 thoughts around kopech, fun to think about how he could come up and shove. When his TJS was announced it legit sent me into a deep depression.
February 17, 20206 yr On 2/15/2020 at 4:53 PM, iWiN4PreP said: I don't think we can pencil him in for anything at this point. We gotta see how he pitches first. Spring training will be a welcomed sight (assuming hes pitching then). I think we will get a lot of our information from that. This^ 2020 is all about Kopech rebuilding his strength and being healthy. I'd expect him to be sent down to AAA for April/May and then evaluate where he is at. Anything he provides the MLB club with this year is gravy.
February 17, 20206 yr 40 minutes ago, steveno89 said: This^ 2020 is all about Kopech rebuilding his strength and being healthy. I'd expect him to be sent down to AAA for April/May and then evaluate where he is at. Anything he provides the MLB club with this year is gravy. They have to keep him down. We’re going to need him strong in September.
February 17, 20206 yr 1 hour ago, reiks12 said: When his TJS was announced it legit sent me into a deep depression. Yeah, that was rock bottom for me (from a fan perspective). Edited February 17, 20206 yr by 35thstreetswarm
February 18, 20206 yr On 2/17/2020 at 9:51 AM, steveno89 said: This^ 2020 is all about Kopech rebuilding his strength and being healthy. I'd expect him to be sent down to AAA for April/May and then evaluate where he is at. Anything he provides the MLB club with this year is gravy. He is healthy and he has been on the same off season program as everyone else. In fact he pitched later than the MLB pitchers as he pitched in Arizona in the Fall. If it wasn't for the innings limit and service time issues, he would start the season in the MLB. Remember he is 19 months or so post surgery. Even the most conservative protocols have pitchers in games at 12.
February 18, 20206 yr 7 minutes ago, ptatc said: He is healthy and he has been on the same off season program as everyone else. In fact he pitched later than the MLB pitchers as he pitched in Arizona in the Fall. If it wasn't for the innings limit and service time issues, he would start the season in the MLB. Remember he is 19 months or so post surgery. Even the most conservative protocols have pitchers in games at 12. I really think you're discounting the desire for taking his time to shake off rust and get confidence back before immediately throwing him into the fire. Yes, he's healthy but he hasn't had to mentally prepare to face the best competition in over a year. It's not like he pitched in the majors for a year(or even a month) and then got hurt. Edited February 18, 20206 yr by mqr
February 18, 20206 yr 5 minutes ago, mqr said: I really think you're discounting the desire for taking his time to shake off rust and get confidence back before immediately throwing him into the fire. Yes, he's healthy but he hasn't had to mentally prepare to face the best competition in over a year. It's not like he pitched in the majors for a year(or even a month) and then got hurt. He's no doubt one of their 5 best SP. If there wasn't a service time concern he'd break camp as the 4th starter maybe even 3rd. IMO of course.
February 18, 20206 yr 5 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said: He's no doubt one of their 5 best SP. If there wasn't a service time concern he'd break camp as the 4th starter maybe even 3rd. IMO of course. If service time were not a concern, I'd still be 50/50 about wanting him to break camp with the big league team and a lot would depend on what we saw from him in ST. In 2018, he started off the year at Charlotte and he really wasn't ready - he had major control issues, topped off by a performance in mid June where he walked 8 batters in 3 innings. This wasn't just him working on something, it literally took him April, May, and June of that year for him to figure out how to control anything he was throwing. Once he figured something out, in early-July, he put together a run of 7 starts where he walked 4 people total the entire time. If he's throwing in the spring and his control is that pinpoint, then yes you can say he's "no doubt one of their 5 best SP". But we saw the same sort of control development for him in 2017 and 2018 both, where it takes him until May or June for him to find his control, then he would simply not be ready. So it's not just service time, it's not just the innings limit or protecting him physically, we have seen him need a long time to find control before and until we see him in games throughout March we don't know where his control is this year.
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