Chicago White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech (Photo by Ron Vesely/Getty Images)
Another player has opted out of the MLB season, with Michael Kopech delivering the news Friday.
On the same day Buster Posey informed the San Francisco Giants he wouldn’t be playing in the shortened 2020 MLB season as he and his wife are adopting twins, another shoe has dropped.
White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech, who was expected to come back from Tommy John surgery this season, will not be participating. The details surrounding his decision are private at this time, but Kopech’s choice does dole a significant blow to Chicago’s pitching depth.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech will not be playing in the 2020 MLB season.
Kopech is a flame-throwing pitching prospect the White Sox acquired as part of the Chris Sale trade with the Boston Red Sox. While this has to be frustrating for ChiSox fans, as Kopech was finally set to fulfill the potential so many on the South Side know he has, it’s an understandable point of view from the player perspective.
At one point, Kopech was clocked throwing as high as 104 MPH, and was thought of as a potential closer of the future, or even an option in the rotation if he could increase his workload. The White Sox, for once, were counting on that uptick in production, especially as they aim to take another major step forward in the AL Central. Considered a young team on the rise thanks to Eloy Jimenez and some of the top prospects in all of baseball, the ChiSox are a dark horse team to contend with the Twins for the Central crown, especially in a shortened season with added divisional matchups.
For now, Chicago baseball fans will have to wait awhile longer.