White Sox booked Michael Kopech was on the injured list for 15 days, because his right arm was being treated for arthritis in his right shoulder. Righty Davis Martin was called up from Triple-A to take Kopech’s place on the active roster.
Although Kopech hasn’t played since September 13, there isn’t any retroactive date tied to Kopech’s IL position, and so his 15-day clock starts today. That means Kopech will be out of action until at least October 2 and there’s a good chance his season could be over if his shoulder problem doesn’t heal. White Sox GM Rick Hahn told reporters (including Scott Merkin of MLB.com) that examinations did not reveal any structural damage, but while Kopech’s injury is not a long-term problem, his absence will hinder a Chicago team battling to get after the 2022 season.
In his first full season as a starting pitcher, Kopech had a 3.54 ERA in 119 thirds, but also a much less flattering 4.73 SIERA. A small .229 BABIP helped Kopech overcome a below-average hit rate and hard hit rate, as well as a 11.5% walk rate, in just a percentage of all pitchers.
This is Kopech’s second IL appearance of the season, as he previously missed the minimum 15 days while recovering from a knee sprain in late August and early September. Since Kopech quit missed all of the 2019-20 games and then only threw 69 innings in the third in 2021, there are questions about how many appearances Kopech will make this season and he’s only hit the seven innings threshold in two games fight. Assuming, however, that this shoulder injury is really just inflammation, Kopech has been relatively healthy after the increased workload and should be catching up to a more normal startup routine in 2023.
Martin is the logical candidate to fill in Kopech, and Martin will really win the hill today against the Tigers – the regular warm-up Johnny Cueto was scratched by a non-COVID illness. Martin had a respectable 4.09 ERA in over 44 plays in his first MLB season, though counting on a rookie isn’t an ideal situation for Chicago. After the Guardians win today, Cleveland has a 4.5-game lead over Chicago in the AL Central, and the White Sox also have a 6.5-game comeback in the wild card race.
