Fans and media shouldn't draw grand conclusions from spring training results. The main goal for pitchers, in particular, is to stay healthy and build stamina to get ready for the start of the regular season. If good results come during these outings, it's a bonus.
For White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech, his spring training debut Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Angels went just as you would hope. He worked three innings and retired all nine batters he faced in a game that finished in a 1-1 tie.
Kopech, who had offseason knee surgery, is being brought along slowly with the hope that he can start the Sox's home opener -- and fifth game of the season -- April 3 against the San Francisco Giants.
The plan for Kopech on Sunday was to throw about 45 pitches. The thought was he would pitch two innings. Fortunately, he only needed 23 pitches to get through the first two innings, which afforded him the opportunity to go out there one more inning.
Watching the outing, it appeared Kopech threw almost exclusively fastballs and sliders. I noticed only one changeup. His velocity topped out at 98 mph, which is terrific news. That's a sign that he's healthy.
The Sox need him to be healthy, and take the next step as a pitcher this season. He has top-of-the-rotation talent. Now's the time for him to live up to his potential.
The other piece of good news for the Sox involves outfielder Oscar Colas, who homered for the team's lone run Sunday. For Colas, it was his second home run in as many days, and he's batting .400 for the spring.
More importantly, he's only struck out once in 25 at-bats, and he's making good swing decisions at the plate. That was the question mark about Colas -- will he be a wild swinger, chasing everything? If not, he's ready to be the starting right fielder in Chicago.
So far, so good.
The Sox are 7-6-1 this spring.
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