With five pitchers out the door and maybe more to follow by Tuesday’s trade deadline, Michael Kopech might be one of the few names you can write in pen for the 2024 White Sox.
But after a 5-0 loss to the Guardians on Sunday, the 27-year-old right-hander is frustrated and scuffling, with a 6.61 ERA in four outings since the All-Star break.
“Pretty pathetic,” Kopech (4-10) said after walking five in five innings.
In 161⁄3 innings since the break, Kopech has walked 14 and allowed seven home runs.
“I was backing up a lot of sliders,’’ Kopech said. ‘‘Shooting a lot of changeups. Rely on my fastball as my go-to pitch, and unfortunately they have that report on the other side, too. So I’m trying to get back in the zone with my fastball, and they were ready for one.”
After losing the zone for four walks in the second inning, Kopech leaned heavily on his fastball for strikes as a remedy, even on a day in which his velocity was diminished enough to prompt a brief trainer visit. As a result, he found Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez sitting on the pitch in the fifth, and both pulled homers to Guaranteed Rate Field’s inviting right-field porch.
“It’s been a developmental year,” pitching coach Ethan Katz said. “There are things that pop up every single day that you can learn from, and there are a lot of steps that he is learning from. His routine has gotten better and better. The way he goes about his business is better.”
After seeing Kopech’s potential shine through with a strong stretch in late May, manager Pedro Grifol wants him going about his business with less frustration.
“We’ve all seen him go out there and just have a lot of fun and be electric,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘So we’ve got to get him to that point. He’s an important piece moving forward.”
TA back at leadoff
After giving Tim Anderson his first start in the leadoff spot in well over a month Saturday night, Grifol kept him there Sunday even as Andrew Benintendi returned to the lineup. It could be a long-term move, but Grifol termed it as more about Benintendi batting fifth than a reward for Anderson for having 10 multihit games in July.
“I want to put him in a position where he can drive some runs in,” Grifol said. “He’s really good with runners in scoring position.
‘‘I’m going to put him in the 5-hole for a little bit and see how that works. [Benintendi] doesn’t hit many ground balls, doesn’t strike out much. Got a knack for driving guys in.”
In keeping with how the team’s season has gone, Benintendi didn’t have an at-bat with runners in scoring position until the ninth inning when the Sox were down five runs. He went 0-for-4, and the Sox (43-64) were shut out with only four hits.
2 major-league debutants
Called up amid a trade-deadline purge of Sox pitchers, right-handed relievers Declan Cronin and Edgar Navarro made their big-league debuts.
“This is not something I did by myself,” Navarro said after pitching a scoreless ninth. “My family also helped a lot throughout this process.”
“The day I was drafted, I don’t know if I even thought this was a reality,” said Cronin. “36th round pick, they don’t exist anymore.”
