It wasn't a typical night in Charlotte for White Sox prospect Michael Kopech. Despite dousing opponents in his last six starts and continuing that trend early in Thursday's game, Kopech plunked a batter in the fourth and the Louisville-Bats dugout took exception.
I mean, that fastball was humming and there is no doubt Kopech drilled him on purpose. Brian O'Grady is a burly lefty batting .318 for the Bats this season out of the four-hole...and he's 3-for-3 tonight with an RBI. The fact that he was skewered in the fourth doesn't seem to have phased him. Personally, I like this move. It's hard to tell what the history between O'Grady and Kopech is, but he drilled O'Grady somewhere relatively safe that sent a message -- one that O'Grady ignored. This targeting comes on the heels of a messy situation last night between Ronald Ocuna Jr. and Jose Urena of the Marlins.
Ocuna had homered in five straight games and lead off with homers in three consecutive games. Urena had to do something, but drilling him high probably wasn't the best idea. Major League Baseball issued him a six-game suspension on Thursday and Ocuna is day-to-day. These shenanigans are the type of unwritten, self-regulated rules that drive fans bonkers. And I get it. In the context of rational thought and logic, it's stupid to hit a guy because he's on fire at the plate. But this has been part of the game for a century and the fundamental philosophy behind those purpose pitches will never change -- remind the hitter that no matter how comfortable he is in the box, getting hit with a baseball hurts. I think Urena's mechanics in the use of this self-regulated rule was a little off. I think he could've come inside with four straight pitches and achieved the same objective. But Kopech obviously fired a missile at O'Grady's hip on Thursday and that shit doesn't tickle. Where does the truth lie? I don't know. Somewhere inbetween. Chipper Jones took to twitter last night and ripped Urena for drilling Ocuna. Meanwhile, Kieth Hernandez extolled the plunk as simply what happens when a guy is on fire. I don't mind it either way, and some would agree that adding a little hostility to the game and clearing the benches invokes some emotion while waking the benches up from a late summer slumber. And that's just what happened on Thursday night.
After the fourth, Kopech kept dealing until his night ended after six innings.
Leading into Thursday's start Kopech owned a 1.89 earned run average over his last six starts and that figure was reduced after he was pulled. Kopech is making a case for a call-up but don't hold your breathe, Sox fans. Any time Kopech spends in the bigs this season will be added onto the time he spends in Triple-A next season. He's ready, but the extra year of control is worth the wait if he reaches the heights he is billed to.
