White Sox Lose Another Starting Pitcher
When it rains, it pours. The Chicago White Sox had a little bit of momentum built up after winning back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Angels, but now they’re a loss away from getting swept by the Oakland A’s and on top of that right-handed starting pitcher Michael Kopech is headed to the injured list.
The White Sox announced the roster move on Sunday prior to their series finale against the A’s. Kopech’s stint on the 15-day injured list is retroactive to June 29. Kopech is apparently dealing with right shoulder inflammation.
Veteran reliever Bryan Shaw has been called up from Triple-A to take Kopech’s spot on Chicago’s 26-man roster. Shaw, 35, signed a minor league deal with the White Sox this past offseason. The right-hander needed to be added to the 40-man roster, so Chicago moved Romy Gonzalez to the 60-day injured list to make room. Gonzalez has been on the injured list since June 19, with right shoulder inflammation of his own.
Through 16 starts this season, Kopech has posted a 4.08 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in 86 innings. The 27-year-old has been much better since the beginning of May, recording a 2.83 ERA in his last 11 starts.
Shaw, who made his MLB debut back in 2011 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, is mostly known for his time with the Cleveland Guardians. The right-hander has a 3.92 ERA in 753 career appearances in the majors, all but two coming as a reliever.
You obviously hope that this injury for Kopech goes away as soon as possible because the White Sox are already playing a man short in the starting rotation. Mike Clevinger has been out with an injury and will not return until after the All-Star break. The White Sox entered the 2023 season with little depth in the starting rotation and now that the injuries are starting to pile up, the team is in an even worse spot.
The White Sox entered Sunday with the third-worst record in the American League at 36-49, but despite the awful play Chicago is only 6.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins, who sit atop the AL Central Division. Following Sunday’s game in Oakland, the White Sox will play three games apiece against the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals to close out the unofficial first half of the season.