REALITY BITES?
Was Kopech’s outing just a blip? Or is it bigger?
The home-opener crowd of 34,784 at White Sox Park was in a festive mood early Monday afternoon, ready for a new start after the disastrous 2022 season.
It had been a long, tough winter, and none of the fans’ offseason hopes panned out.
Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf did not sell the team, despite a billboard campaign paid for by a GoFundMe page. Rick Hahn was still the general manager, Ken Williams was still the general manager whisperer and Ozzie Guillén did not become the manager.
Yasmani Grandal was behind the plate again, Joe Kelly remained in the bullpen and SoxFest was canceled.
But none of that mattered now. It was time to get back to the ballpark, to eat some encased meats and fried dough and to remember why they became Sox fans in the first place.
Sox fans are a resilient bunch — and optimists down deep under the five layers of clothes for the home opener. Only when provoked do they turn, as evidenced by the “Sell the Team” banners and “Fire Tony” chants of last summer.
The relationship between Sox fans and their team is complicated, but in the end they always come back and hope for a different ending.
“To the White Sox rooter, there is nothing casual or relaxing about baseball,” former owner Bill Veeck wrote in “Veeck As In Wreck.” “Wake him up in the middle of the night, ask him who he is and he will say, ‘I am a carpenter and a White Sox fan.’ ... The White Sox had long ago tested the loyalty of their rooters; the weak and faint of heart had fallen by the wayside and only the strong, the dedicated and the masochistic remained.”
So maybe this year really would be different from the last.
Sox fans liked what they’d heard from new manager Pedro Grifol and reports of a more structured and purposeful spring training at Camelback Ranch. Yoán Moncada, Tim Anderson, Luis Robert Jr. and Lance Lynn all contributed to their teams in the World Baseball Classic, and closer Liam Hendriks should return relatively soon, as Hendriks suggested in a videoboard message announcing his final chemo treatment.
Dylan Cease, Lynn, Lucas Giolito and Mike Clevinger had strong starts in the opening series in Houston, where a split with the reigning champion Astros was considered a statement. The Sox even outmaneuvered Mother Nature, getting the San Francisco Giants to agree to move up Monday’s game time by an hour to beat the projected raindrops. Everything was working to perfection.
Hahn gave his first state of the Sox address in the dugout, warning against drawing any conclusions after four games. The sun peeked out as Grifol told reporters he probably would replay the game 150 times in his head when he went home that night, asking himself: “Could I have done this? Could I have done that?”
The cheesy pregame introductions sponsored by an automaker went off well. Only on the South Side of Chicago does the head groundskeeper get a louder ovation than most of the players. Fan favorite A.J. Pierzynski — fresh off hosting a podcast in which former Sox broadcaster Ken “Hawk” Harrelson said he was forced to retire — threw out the ceremonial first pitch to much applause. A consolation prize from Reinsdorf, perhaps, for letting Hahn pick his own manager instead of putting A.J. in the dugout.
Michael Kopech finally took the mound at 2:12 p.m., struck out the first two Giants hitters and induced a comebacker to the mound for a quick inning.
With the pitch clock ticking and Kopech dealing, some wondered whether they could get a fast win and perhaps avoid the interminable mess on the Kennedy on the way home, a game plan only an eternal dreamer would dare make.
Then reality bit, right on cue. Kopech served up five home runs and was lifted in the fifth inning of a 12-3 loss. The game included the ultimate white flag — a Sox position player on the mound — after José Ruiz allowed the Giants’ seventh home run. Grifol’s bullpen had to be saved, and it was only Game 5.
Grifol went home to replay the video and check whether Kopech was tipping his pitches. Sox fans got back on the expressways to find the usual gridlock, making a long day longer.
The sun came up Tuesday, back in its usual April spot behind a cloud cover, and the Sox had a day off to unpack, relax and forget about the lost opener. Cease faces the Giants on Wednesday afternoon with a chance to even the series and give Grifol his first home win.
The only real residue from Monday’s loss that must be dealt with is Kopech’s struggles in his first start after a subpar Cactus League season. He didn’t surrender his first home run in 2022 until his ninth start, having thrown 45 innings and posted a 1.29 ERA by then.
After a year in the bullpen, he was showing signs of becoming the star the Sox envisioned when they acquired him from the Boston Red Sox in 2016 in the Chris Sale deal that kick-started the rebuild.
Kopech cruised into June, when he exited a start against the Texas Rangers with left knee soreness after throwing only eight pitches to two batters. He returned after a six-day rest, allowed four runs in five innings in a 4-3 loss in Houston and went 3-7 with a 3.79 ERA in 14 starts after coming out of the Rangers game.
He missed time with a left knee strain and ended the season on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation. Kopech underwent surgery in early October to repair a torn right meniscus. The Sox announced he would be ready for spring training.
Monday’s outing very well could be a blip. It happens, and Kopech was disappointed but not overly concerned.
The Sox better hope that’s the case. Kopech was one of the most important pieces of the rebuild, expected to be a mainstay of the rotation for years with Carlos Rodón and Giolito. Rodón wasn’t re-signed after 2021, and Giolito could leave as a free agent after this season — if he’s not part of a trade-deadline deal.
Kopech’s struggles since leaving the Rangers game last June are sure to stoke the debate on whether he’s more suited for the bullpen. There’s no talk of the Sox considering such a move, but it makes sense that Kopech won’t have as long a rope to get back on track as he had last year.
Grifol said Monday morning he wanted to learn every day about his “players, our staff, our coaches, you (media), the fans, everybody.”
The home opener provided a good lesson from all sides.