NEW YORK — Michael Kopech faces the Mets Wednesday trying to wash the effects of an awful performance in Atlanta Friday in which he failed to finish the first inning.
Kopech said he “filled up the strike zone” in his bullpen between starts, concentrating on being aggressive, and came away confident his outing against the Braves wasn’t anything mechanical as much as his mindset.
“It’s just being collected and aggressive at the same time,” Kopech told the Sun-Times Tuesday. “Not being too aggressive and getting outside of yourself. It’s also not being so methodical that you can’t still be aggressive. I don’t know that there’s a specific mechanical cue I can pinpoint.”
Kopech walked four, hit one batter and gave up a grand slam to Matt Olson, recording two outs. His body language told the story of how things were going, which is something he wants to reel in.
“When you’re having a good go of it you don’t want to get outside of yourself and show that,” he said, “and and when you’re having a rough go you don’t want to carry it on your sleeves because people can take that and make a run out of it themselves. It’s staying in control and doing it with a purpose. That’s part of the art of pitching.”
The sight of Kopech getting down on himself is not a good one for those with hopes for a winning Sox starting rotation. It doesn’t seem to matter much in 2023, with waiver claim Touki Toussaint allowing five earned runs in six innings Wednesday in a 5-1 loss to the Justin Verlander and the Mets dropping the Sox to 40-57 Wednesday as the trade deadline draws nearer.
But there is a 2024 Sox rotation to consider, one that might not include Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn and Mike Clevinger from the unit that opened this season. Barring unforeseen trades — and anything is possible at this point — there’s Dylan Cease and Kopech for next year. Perhaps left-hander Garrett Crochet. And who knows what else.
And so Kopech, who was a key piece in the Chris Sale rebuild trade in 2016, needs to be good.
He takes a 4.47 ERA into the game as he tries to get beyond 4 1⁄3 innings for the first time in five starts. For those who believe he’s better suited for the bullpen, Kopech said he didn’t mind it when he made 40 relief appearances in 2021.
“But I like starting too much to want that,” he said. “If I would end up going to the bullpen I would embrace it with open arms but what I want to do is what I’m doing now.
“The goal is to get back to [going deep into games] on a regular basis.”
On the subject of deep, Verlander pitched eight innings, allowing three hits including Luis Robert Jr.’s 28th homer.
He walked one and struck out seven, throwing 100 pitches.
Kopech has not faced the Mets, but he had one of the best starts of his career in New York last season with seven innings of one-hit, scoreless ball against the Yankees on May 22.