Chicago White Sox: Breaking down the top three prospects
2. Michael Kopech
I’m sure no one completely forgot about how good Hansen was last season in the minors in 2016. It just happened that one of his fellow pitching prospects, Kopech, got all the headlines.
But let’s be fair: he earned them. Truthfully, the Chicago White Sox may not have had a more dominant young pitching prospect in a long time.
Coming over in the Chris Sale trade last winter, Kopech struck out a ridiculous 172 strikeouts in 134.1 innings pitched in Class AA Birmingham and Class AAA Charlotte. His strikeouts per nine innings: 11.5. That’s filthy.
And if you’ve watched his fastball and slider, you get an idea why. His stuff is the stuff of nightmares if you’re a hitter. Seriously, one of these days, his fastball is liable to catch fire on the way to the plate.
The top of the #WhiteSox system is among the best in the game, with outfielder Eloy Jimenez, righthander Michael Kopech and Cuban import Luis Robert each having extremely high ceilings. https://t.co/w5IDeOydQL
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) January 8, 2018
Because he started off in Class AA, he already had a leg up in experience compared to Hansen. As such, I feel like there’s a legitimate chance that he could break camp with the Chicago White Sox in the spring.
At the least, he’ll get plenty of chances to show what he has to the big club staff as he did last season before getting more innings in Class AAA, which may be more likely.
But barring a setback, Kopech will easily end up in the major leagues in 2018. And by the time 2019 hits, he’ll be a key piece in the starting rotation.