Kopech opts out

Not a lot else to say here as the news breaks in a Friday news dump (!) that Michael Kopech will not be with the Chicago White Sox this season:

While there was a lot of speculation as to the reasons why Kopech wasn’t part of Summer Camp when the team regathered a week ago, most reasonable people settled on the fact that the fireballer was simply deciding whether to play at all. Not to say that there couldn’t still be troubling or even impersonal elements involved in his decision, but the suspicion that Kopech would sit out 2020 was confirmed today by Rick Hahn and the White Sox.

We wish Kopech all the best and hope to see him back and ready to go next spring.

As for the effect on the White Sox, well, Carlos Rodón’s progression into the starting rotation does take some of the edge off of Kopech’s loss. You pencil in Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, Reynaldo López, Carlos Rodón and Dylan Cease and you still have to find space for Gio González, who has as much as admitted he won’t be of much use out of the bullpen due to his shoulder, at least to start the season.

It’s never good when a key cog is out, for whatever reason. But, especially in a short season with deep roster rules, the White Sox can weather this.