Michael Kopech spoke to the media Thursday after general manager Chris Getz announced the right-handed pitcher would start the 2024 season in the White Sox' bullpen.
"I think right now it's just been trying to find a little bit of a rhythm, to be honest," he said. "I'm not making any excuses for myself, but just trying to get back to finding my legs after having another surgery this past offseason, and finding a rhythm in my mechanics, and just getting comfortable with the release point and little things like that.
"The results weren't there this spring. I had some strikeouts, which was nice. But I wasn't very efficient, which is the main result we're looking for."
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Kopech has given up six runs through seven innings in spring training so far, though he has recorded 10 strikeouts. It was a stretch of inefficient outings in 2023, however, that seem to play a bigger role in the decision to bring him off the bench. Kopech made 26 starts before he was moved to the bullpen in the latter half of the season. Among those 26 starts he only logged more than 5.0 innings of work eight times. He led the AL with 91 walks despite tossing only 129.1 innings. The White Sox shut him down in late-September so he could undergo right-knee surgery.
"When you're trying to navigate the early innings and your pitch count is raised, and although you're getting some outs, you’re also perhaps getting some walks and really raising a workload," Getz said. “We thought we were going to run the risk of perhaps overtaxing our bullpen and the remainder of our pitching staff. So we're looking for starters who can be more efficient on the front end to help navigate a season."
While the move creates another hole in the rotation, it bolsters the bullpen to have a pitcher with Kopech’s stuff.
"He has a very talented arm as we all know," Getz said. “I can't say that everyone has the ability to get outs like Michael does."
