Gamethread: Tigers at White Sox

Happy Sunday. We have gone from an exclamation mark to a period at the end of that sentence at this point in the season. Let’s be real, there’s not much to really be excited for any longer. Anyways, the Chicago White Sox will play the Detroit Tigers this afternoon in an attempt to avoid the sweep at Guaranteed Rate Field against a team 12 games worse than .500. Lefty Tarik Skubal will be on the mound against Michael Kopech.

Skubal has appeared in 10 games for the Tigers this year, and is 3-3 with a 3.93 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. He was drafted by the Tigers in the ninth round in 2020, and didn’t appear this season until July 4 due to flexor tendon surgery from the end of last season. He has been solid, and one thing to notice in his last three starts is that he has gone six innings in all of them with at least seven strikeouts in each. His last start against the New York Yankees he had just four hits, two runs, and nine strikeouts. His chase rate is 31.6%, average exit velocity is 89.4 mph, and average fastball velocity is 95.9%. He relies on five pitches, using his fastball the most at 39.2%. He follows with a slider (22.4%), changeup (20.4%), sinker (11.2%), and curveball (6.9%).

Kopech will be on the mound for the White Sox. No doubt the skills are there for Kopech, but his issue has been his longevity in games and the ability pitch at the length that a starter normally would. He is 5-12, with a 5.08 ERA and 1.53 WHIP. His last three starts have all been short outings, only going four innings. In his last start against the Baltimore Orioles he had seven hits, four runs, four walks, and five strikeouts. Over the years, we have seen some great stuff from Kopech. The question is whether or not he is fit for a starter role, and just like so many of the other top-ranked prospects on this team, you could say he has been disappointing thus far. He has a chase rate of 24.8%, his average exit velocity is 90.6 mph, and average fastball velocity is 95.2%. He uses a mix of four pitches, with his fastball being thrown the most at 62.6%. He follows with his slider (25.9%), changeup (7.7%), and curveball (4.2%).

Tim Anderson will lead it off followed by the Andrew’s Benintendi and Vaughn. Luis Robert Jr. is scratched from the lineup as you can see in the lineup change. Pedro Grifol mentioned that the team is just being cautious with him and hope the cramping will be gone by tomorrow’s game. Eloy Jiménez is the DH, Yoán Moncada is at third base, and Elvis Andrus at second. Trayce Thompson is in right field as Oscar Colás takes center and Korey Lee is the catcher.

Game time is at 1:10 p.m. CT on NBCSCHI and you can listen in at ESPN 1000.