Michael Kopech's hot streak: Perhaps it wasn't because he was traded

Given the White Sox track record over the past few seasons, it's easy to dump on them. I dump on them frequently on this blog.

Every player who puts on a Sox uniform seems to turn into mush. When a player leaves the Sox, he seems to find new life with another team. Maybe it's confirmation bias at times, but you hear fans say that a lot.

Case in point, Michael Kopech, who was recently traded from the Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-team deal.

Kopech pitched in 43 games for the Sox this season. He was 2-8 with a 4.74 ERA. He was just 9 for 14 in save opportunities. While he struck out a robust 12.2 batters per nine innings pitched, that was canceled out by a high walk rate -- 4.9 batters per nine innings.

Then the trade happened, and Kopech made his first appearance with the Dodgers on July 31.

Here's his line with Los Angeles: 11 games pitched, 2-0 record, 0.79 ERA, two saves, five holds, 15 strikeouts and only two walks in 11.1 innings, and just one earned run and three hits allowed.

That's unquestionably outstanding. What many Sox fans don't realize, however, was that Kopech was pitching well BEFORE he was sent to the Dodgers.

The trade WAS NOT the turning point for him.

Kopech gave up a walk-off grand slam on a 99-mph fastball to Jake Burger of the Miami Marlins on July 7. After the game, he told MLB.com's Scott Merkin this:

“It’s coming down to what we talked about a lot lately in-house,” Kopech said. “I need to mix my pitches and not just rely on the fastball so much. It’s difficult to do that when I fall behind and my best pitch is my fastball. I have to get back in the count.

“The ninth has been my role this year, and those situations I have a job to do, and I haven’t been doing it well,” Kopech added. “There’s no easy way to say that. It’s tough for me to say, but it’s the truth. I’ve got work to do to get better.”

The Sox coaching staff had been trying all season to convince Kopech to use all of his pitches. Those pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears, until the disastrous outing in Miami.

Then Kopech made some changes. As he stated, he had "work to do." He started mixing in his cutter and slider more frequently, and he started to get better results.

In his final five outings as a member of the Sox, Kopech worked 5.1 innings. He did not allow a single run. Over that same span, he struck out eight, walked only one and allowed just one hit. Those five games included an immaculate inning in a save against the Minnesota Twins on July 10.

Was it the Dodgers' pitching acumen that allowed Kopech to accomplish that? Obviously not. 

Kopech had gotten his act together before he left the Sox. The brilliant performances as a member of the Dodgers are a continuation of a hot streak that began in Chicago.

Maybe, just maybe, Kopech's successes and failures are on him, more than anything that coaches in Chicago or Los Angeles have said to him.

He had great stuff with the Sox. He has great stuff with the Dodgers. When Kopech is right, he dominates. And he's been dominating for almost two months now, as a member of both the Sox and the Dodgers. Not a popular take, but just sayin'.