CHICAGO _ Michael Kopech struck out eight of the 17 Norfolk Tides batters he faced over four shutout innings for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on Monday, throwing 51 of his 77 pitches for strikes.
So once again, the Michael Kopech Watch is on.
"I felt great out there," he said, according to milb.com. "No nerves or anything."
Before Monday's start, Kopech had gone 9-8 (2.88 ERA) with 172 strikeouts in 1341/3 innings over his last 25 starts between Double-A Birmingham and Charlotte.
But before White Sox fans start penciling him in on lineup cards for May, manager Rick Renteria is holding steady to his commitment to bring Kopech along slowly.
"For Michael, nobody's hiding that we're trying to work on his changeup, develop that pitch as a secondary pitch beyond his breaking ball," Renteria said before Tuesday 6-5 loss to the Rays.
"As you can see, when we get guys at the major-league level there are days when they don't have their best stuff, their best command, and they have to be able to deal with all those things and get through it. He's discovering who he continues to become and hopefully that's going to be a top-quality big-league pitcher."
