The Chicago White Sox are heading into a rebuild of some sort and finally pulled the trigger on a Dylan Cease trade on Wednesday, sending him to the San Diego Padres. Following the blockbuster deal, the team announced that starter Michael Kopech will be moving to the bullpen. On top of that, there are internal discussions that Mike Clevinger could return to the White Sox as a free agent after an impressive 2023 campaign.
Via Bob Nightengale:
“Now that the Chicago White Sox traded Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech is being moved to the bullpen, they are internally discussing the possibility of bringing back free-agent starter Mike Clevinger. Clevinger was their most consistent starter last year: 9-9 with a 3.77 ERA.”
This would make sense since Cease is gone and Kopech is going to be a reliever. Chicago could use another starter. As mentioned by Nightengale, Clevinger was 9-9 last year with a 3.77 ERA, striking out 110 in 131.1 innings while issuing 40 walks.
Kopech to the bullpen is a good move
When Michael Kopech initially came up to the big leagues in 2018, he had a brief cup of coffee before going back down to the minors. After the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 season, the hard-throwing righty was back in the Majors in 2021 but this time, as a reliever. That year, Kopech made 44 appearances and only four starts, compiling a 3.50 ERA, striking out 103 in 69.1 innings, and walking only 24.
The reality is that Kopech's stuff plays much better as a reliever. He gave up 91 free passes in 23′ in 129.1 innings to go along with a 5-12 record and 5.43 ERA. Kopech will regularly touch triple digits out of the pen and could even serve as a long reliever for the White Sox. Sure, the mentality is different when you're coming into the game late, but he's proven to be more effective in a role like this. And as you can see, his walk rate was way down in the one season he was a bullpen arm. The hope is that will be the case again.
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