How Did the Dodgers Fix Michael Kopech?
The July 29 trade that moved Michael Kopech from the Chicago White Sox to the Dodgers was like going from the outhouse to the penthouse for the flame-throwing reliever.
Kopech went from turmoil on a 100-game losing team to fighting for a pennant and possibly becoming a high-leverage closer.
What changed besides the team?
In order to find the right balance with the fastball, Kopech had to find the right breaking ball. It wasn’t necessarily the slider he’d been throwing in Chicago. He’s switched over to a cutter that’s three miles per hour slower and has four fewer inches of drop than the slider. That lack of movement is the point.
“The cutter is a pitch that I can just rip a little bit more, like a fastball, stay through it easier,” Kopech told Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. “I can throw it more in the strike zone with less action, rather than trying to turn over a slider. I can find a place for both, but that cutter is playing for me well in the zone.”
Since coming to Los Angeles, no hitter has gotten a hit off his cutter anywhere in the strike zone, or even in the “shadow” area just around the strike zone. Those cutters have led to extra strikes and the count leverage to let that fastball rip above the zone, his bread and butter as a reliever.
“It’s just real top-end stuff, and it doesn’t matter if [the batter] is left or right,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s just such a beast. With that 100-mph fastball and cutter and his strike-throwing ability, it’s an uncomfortable at-bat. He’s definitely high on the trust tree right now.”
The rest of the Dodgers’ bullpen is grateful for the addition of Kopech.
“Any time you can add a guy like that to the back of your bullpen, it’s going to help,” veteran Daniel Hudson said of Kopech. “It’s really good to have depth. … We aren’t spring chickens anymore, so we need days [off] here and there. It’s a special talent, a special arm, and I’m glad he’s on our side now, for sure.”
Kopech, who went 2-8 with a 4.74 ERA in 43 games for the White Sox, has gone 3-0 with the Dodgers with a 1.00 ERA in 18 games. He has only allowed two earned runs in 18 innings and struck out 22 batters while walking seven.
Photo Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
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