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Kopech next in long line of Texas fireballers
- Updated: December 8, 2016
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Michael Kopech threw a 105-mph fastball in June, as you may have heard.
But here’s what the accounts from that Carolina League outing did not include: He was throwing an easy 105, if such a thing is possible.
“It wasn’t so much different than some guys throwing 95,” Kopech said on Wednesday from his home in Texas. “I wouldn’t say [throwing 105] feels any different than throwing 95, 90 or whatever the case may be.”
It sure looks different. It even sounds different.
For the White Sox, Kopech’s fastball could make a huge difference in an intriguing overhaul.
The Sox formally launched their rebuilding campaign with the Tuesday trade that sent ace left-hander Chris Sale to the Red Sox for MLBPipeline.com’s No. 1 overall prospect Yoan Moncada, Kopech and two others. They followed that up with another eye-popping deal on Wednesday.
General manager Rick Hahn and the Sox’s busy front office acquired Lucas Giolito, ranked as the No. 1 pitching prospect in MLB, and two other potential top-of-the-rotation right-handers — Reynaldo Lopez and 2016 first-round Draft pick Dane Dunning — from the Nationals for outfielder Adam Eaton. Hahn still has several other valuable pieces to deal, including Jose Quintana, Todd Frazier, David Robertson and, for the right package, Jose Abreu.
When the Nationals and Red Sox trained in Florida for Spring Training, they talked about Giolito and Moncada like guys headed for Cooperstown. It’s hard to believe that Hahn could even ask about them in trades, let alone actually get them.
It helps if you have dozens of conversations. And Hahn and his guys have had hundreds of them as they studied their options.
“I think it was a couple weeks ago when [Nationals general manager] Mike [Rizzo] said, ‘I know the caliber of players we’re talking about; you can’t offend me with anybody you ask about,”’ Hahn …
