The White Sox will need to add some starting pitching help this offseason. However, it appears that one of their most prolific arms will be able to start the season in the rotation.
According to pitching coach Ethan Katz, who spoke with reporters this afternoon, Michael Kopech should be ready for spring training following his end-of-season knee surgery.
It appears the team already has a good plan to have him not only healthy but ready to be contributing as soon as the team heads to Houston to begin the season. As mentioned in the above tweet, Katz says they already have a plan for Kopech to reach five innings and/or 85 pitches.
Kopech’s 2022 season was his first full one as a major league starter, and while he missed time due to knee and shoulder injuries, he still made 25 starts over the course of the season. In 119 innings, Kopech was 5-9 with a 3.54 ERA, 4.50 FIP, and 1.0 fWAR. He struck out 21.3% of batters and walked 11.5% of them.
“He’s in a good spot,” Katz said in regard to Kopech. “Rehab’s going well. He just has to keep crushing his rehab, and everything needs to keep going north. He’s doing well, and we expect him to have a normal offseason here shortly.”
With the White Sox still with many question marks heading into next season, it’s nice to hear that Kopech does not project to be one of those at this moment.
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