MESA, Ariz. — Michael Kopech reached 98 mph, according to a video board at Sloan Park, while facing Pete Crow-Armstrong during the second inning of Friday’s game against the Cubs.
The Chicago White Sox starter’s 46th and final pitch of the afternoon was recorded at 97 mph — a called strike three to left fielder Owen Caissie.
After what he termed a “little erratic” start, Kopech found a rhythm. He finished with five strikeouts during two scoreless innings in his first Cactus League outing this spring. He hit a batter and walked one but did not allow a hit in a game the Sox would lose 10-6.
“Once I got my feet under me, I felt I was able to — for the most part — command counts,” Kopech said. “I think I stayed best two of three (strikes) seven out of eight guys. I was happy with that. Working on some new stuff — cutter, got to get out in front a little bit more with.
“I was happy with my other stuff, once I got my feet under me, and felt I was able to throw the ball with a little more conviction that second inning. It seemed to kind of fall into place.”
Manager Pedro Grifol and pitching coach Ethan Katz both lauded Kopech’s conditioning heading into camp.
“He’s in really good shape,” Grifol said before Friday’s game. “He’s strong as hell.”
Kopech showcased a fastball in the mid-to-upper 90s early, but he missed high during portions of the first inning. Kopech went to a full count against leadoff batter Nick Madrigal before hitting him with a pitch. Kopech went to a full count again with the No. 2 batter Seiya Suzuki before walking him.
“(It was a) just getting rid of the sea legs kind of thing,” Kopech said of the slow start. “I felt I was maybe a little too amped up and because of that I tried to hone things back a little bit. When you get tight like that, it’s real hard to stay in the zone.
“The name of the game is being loose and also throwing with conviction. I felt a little tight there early on. Once I got used to being out there in front of everybody again, things took care of themselves.”
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Catcher Korey Lee and shortstop Paul DeJong visited the mound, then Kopech went back to work. He struck out first baseman Michael Busch looking on a 3-2 pitch and displayed a strong breaking ball while striking out catcher Yan Gomes swinging.
Kopech finished the first by striking out shortstop Miles Mastrobuoni swinging.
“That’s something, going back to last season we talked about not letting innings escalate,” Kopech said. “It’s easy to let a leadoff walk turn into trouble, or a leadoff hit by pitch in this case. And a walk to follow that up. With two runners on and no outs, it’s easy to let that escalate.
“Getting that under control and taking back the control of the game and the tempo of the game is a huge plus for me, especially in my first one. Hopefully we can feed off that a little bit.”
Kopech got third baseman Matt Shaw to ground out to DeJong to begin the second. He then struck out Crow-Armstrong and Caissie looking to complete his outing.
The cutter is one of Kopech’s focuses this spring.
“I definitely threw more (cutters) than I threw sliders,” he said. “I threw a couple of sliders, but breaking stuff was primarily curve ball, cutter. Glad to have that. I think it’s going to be an important pitch for me. It comes out a little bit more firm than my slider does and it plays off my fastball pretty well.
“There will be a time for me to use my slider. I think this one bridges the gap a little bit better.”
While Kopech would like to make 30-plus starts, his focus is on team goals. And as for the strong velocity early, Kopech didn’t want to toot his own horn but said, “I’m never really worried about stuff.”
“I’m always going to kind of be the guy who is trying to battle myself a little bit and stay in the zone because if I stay in the zone, I think I have stuff that plays against anybody in the league,” Kopech said.
“But with that being said, it feels like it’s there. It’s there early right now and hopefully I can continue to build off that and go into the season with a pretty good arsenal.”
