MESA, Ariz. — Michael Kopech’s first impression was not great. His pitching line was, however.
The White Sox right-hander hit former Sox infielder Nick Madrigal of the Cubs with a 3-2 pitch, then walked Seiya Suzuki to begin his first Cactus League start. Then he struck out Michael Busch, Yan Gomes and Miles Mastrobuoni.
The box score of the Sox’ 10-6 loss Friday showed a perfect second inning for Kopech with a groundout and strikeouts of Matt Shaw and Pete Crow-Armstrong, giving him five strikeouts in two scoreless innings.
But needing 45 pitches, 24 of them strikes, to navigate through six full counts is not the efficiency Kopech is looking for as he tries to bounce back from 2023, when he went 5-12 with a 5.43 ERA for a 61-101 team. The five strikeouts, however, are a reminder of Kopech’s potential.
“Not the start I wanted; I felt a little erratic,” Kopech said. “But once I got my feet under me, I was able to, for the most part, command counts.”
Kopech sat at 95-96 mph and touched 98 on the scoreboard. He said he threw eight cutters (and a lot fewer sliders than normal), a new wrinkle in an arsenal that still features the curveball and changeup.
“It’s going to be an important pitch for me,” Kopech said. “It comes out a little bit more firm than my slider does, and it plays off my fastball pretty well.”
Kopech said his goals for 2024 are team-oriented, and to that end, he wants to notch career highs with 30 starts and 180 innings.
“Try to come out as close to the ‘W’ column as we can every time I take the ball,” he said. “Stretch myself, extend myself and give myself a chance every fifth day is important.”
Eloy’s hot start
Eloy Jimenez came to camp in good shape, looks to be running well for a big man and is hitting most everything in sight. The best thing is Jimenez (8-for-14) is keeping the ball off the ground, which he aimed to do with offseason tweaks to his hands and front-foot placement.
“Everything is in the air, which is a good sign for him and for us,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “He’s a big part of this because he’s probably going to hit behind [Luis] Robert. There’s an effect to all of this if he’s swinging the bat the way he’s capable of swinging, which I’m confident he will.”
Jimenez went 1-for-3 against the Cubs. After his broken-bat single, though, he got doubled off first base on Peyton Burdick’s popout when, running on the pitch, he didn’t hear or pick up first-base coach Jason Bourgeois.
Give these men a contract!
The Sox agreed to terms on one-year contracts with 22 players, including right-hander Jimmy Lambert ($759,250), first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets ($756,950) and left-hander Tanner Banks ($755,050) as the top-paid among the group. The major-league minimum salary in 2024 is $740,000.
Also signed: pitchers Prelander Berroa, Shane Drohan, Jake Eder, Deivi Garcia, Bailey Horn, Davis Martin, Sammy Peralta, Jesse Scholtens, Jared Shuster and Alex Speas, catcher Korey Lee, infielders Bryan Ramos, Jose Rodriguez, Braden Shewmake and Lenyn Sosa and outfielders Oscar Colas, Zach DeLoach, Dominic Fletcher and Burdick,
All players on the 40-man roster are under contract.
Cubs 10, Sox 6
The Sox (3-6) had a 6-2 lead but lost it in a jiffy when Touki Toussaint, whose nemesis is the base on balls, walked five and was charged with four runs while recording one out. He was pulled in the fifth, then went back out to start the sixth and gave up a single and two walks.
† Sun-aided doubles by Paul DeJong and Dominic Fletcher fueled a four-run fifth. DeJong (five RBI in five games) also had a sacrifice fly. DeJong’s middle-infield partner, Nicky Lopez (5-for-10) hit his fourth double, singled, scored two runs and drove in one.
† Mike Moustakas (0-for-3) is 1-for-15 with four strikeouts and no walks. The 35-year-old veteran signed a minor-league deal but is getting a chance to win a job on the bench.
On deck
Sox at Rangers, 2:05 p.m. Saturday, Surprise, Dylan Cease vs. Jon Gray.
