Kopechered !

The White Sox, and the baseball world as a whole, were dealt another crushing blow on Friday when it was announced that White Sox rookie right-hander Michael Kopech was diagnosed with a “rather significant tear” in his ulnar collateral ligament, as diagnosed by Dr. Nik Verma.

The recommendation, as it always seems to be these days, is that Kopech will have to undergo Tommy John surgery. He’ll seek a second opinion to be completely sure, but it sounds like he’ll undergo the procedure and will miss the entirety of the 2019 season.

A dejected Kopech told reporters on Friday that this news crushed him. "It's been a whirlwind of emotions for me in the past couple of weeks, obviously. From just about my absolute peak to the absolute rock bottom for me… To say it's unexpected would be an understatement," Kopech said. "It sucks. That's it. It sucks."

Widely regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball, the flame-throwing right-hander finally made a major leap forward this season, improving his command and seemingly learning how to harness his electric repertoire.

The 22-year-old posted a 3.70 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 170/60 K/BB ratio over 126 ⅓ innings in his 24 starts at Triple-A Charlotte before getting the call to the big leagues. Those numbers don’t even tell the entire story, as he struggled mightily early in the season. Prior to his promotion, he had been especially good over his last seven starts at Triple-A, registering a 1.84 ERA and 59/4 K/BB ratio across 44 innings. In four of his last five starts there, he didn’t issue a single walk.

The results were mixed in his four starts with the White Sox, compiling a 5.02 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and 15/2 K/BB ratio over 14 ⅓ innings. Those numbers are misleading as well though, as he pitched well in each of his first three starts before getting bombed by the Tigers in his final outing, the start in which his injury is believed to have occurred.

In this day and age, Tommy John surgery has become so refined and so mainstream that it’s almost an inevitability to occur at some point during a pitcher’s career. Many pitchers wind up coming back from the procedure even stronger than before, which is a scary thought with the extreme heat that Kopech was firing before the injury.

White Sox’ teammate Lucas Giolito noted on Twitter on Friday that Kopech is one of the hardest workers that he has ever met, and that he’s going to come back from this surgery even stronger than before.

We all certainly hope that will be the case.

Swinging It

Speaking of Tommy John, Angels’ rookie phenom Shohei Ohtani continues to ponder whether or not he’ll undergo the recommended procedure.

The 24-year-old plans to finish out the season as the Angels’ designated hitter before making a final decision, though it appears that he’s leaning toward going under the knife.

On one hand, it’s an absolute shame that another amazingly talented young arm is going to miss an entire season of pitching. On the other hand, it’s going to give the baseball world a chance to see and really appreciate just how unbelievably talented Ohtani is.

If he does have the procedure done shortly after the conclusion of the regular season, it’s estimated that he’ll be able to resume swinging a bat in three months. He would then be ready for full-time game action anywhere between 4 ½ and 6 months after surgery. That means that Ohtani is expected to be fully able to function as the Angels’ designated hitter for the duration of the 2019 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

It’s also a major benefit that Ohtani swings from the left side of the plate. Because of that, as it puts far less stress on his right elbow than it would have if he batted from the other side of the dish.

When Ohtani ventured stateside this spring, most prognosticators believed that his future was simply as a top of the rotation hurler. Many admitted that he had impressive power, but there wasn’t widespread belief that he could be a star at the plate as well. Heck, there were many in the industry who believed that he should focus exclusively on pitching and give up the dream of being a two-way player.

It’s fair to say that he has proved everyone wrong.

Ohtani, damaged UCL and all, continues to absolutely rake at the dish. On Friday, he homered for the third consecutive game (and the fourth time in three days) in the Angels’ 5-2 victory over the White Sox. Even more noteworthy, is that his three-run shot in the third inning came off of White Sox’ left-hander Carlos Rodon. It was just his second home run, and only 14th hit overall, against an opposing left-hander this season.

The home run, Ohtani’s 19th of the season, broke a tie with former Mariners’ catcher Kenji Johjima for the most home runs by a Japanese rookie in the majors. That’s a pretty remarkable feat considering that it has come in only 284 plate appearances.

With his 1-for-4 effort on Friday, Ohtani is now slashing .287/.367/.586 with the aforementioned 19 home runs, 50 RBI and seven stolen bases in his first season of baseball on this continent. The only thing holding him back heading into 2019, from a fantasy perspective, will be his eligibility as a designated hitter only. Even so, it's not absurd to think that he should be ranked as a top 75 player overall heading into next spring's drafts.

Double Your Pleasure

Blue Jays’ 23-year-old slugger Rowdy Tellez received his long-awaited call to the big leagues on Tuesday. The former top prospect had rebounded somewhat from a brutal 2017 campaign, hitting .270/.340/.425 with 13 homers, 50 RBI and seven stolen bases in 112 games at Triple-A Buffalo.

On Wednesday, he got his first career plate appearance at the big league level and didn’t disappoint, delivering an RBI double as a pinch-hitter in a victory over the Rays.

Whether that played a role or not, Tellez drew his first career start the following day, and he continued to swing a hot bat. He went 3-for-4 in that game, with all three hits being doubles. He also drove in a run and scored a run in the contest.

So naturally, manager John Gibbons had to work Tellez back into the starting lineup on Friday. In his first trip to the plate, Tellez went down swinging against dominant Indians’ right-hander Carlos Carrasco. He wouldn’t stay down for long though. After falling behind 0-2 in his next at-bat, Tellez lined a double into left field. I mean, eventually he’s going to stop at first base, right?

With another chance against Carrasco in the seventh inning, Tellez did it again, tying the game at 2-2 with an RBI double into the gap in left-center. In each of his final two plate appearances in the contest though, Tellez would go down swinging against tough left-handers Oliver Perez and Brad Hand.

Tellez became the first American League rookie since Joe DiMaggio in 1936 to collect six doubles over any three-game stretch, let alone doing so in the first three games of his career, the first of which he only appeared as a pinch-hitter.

American League Quick Hits: Bartolo Colon announced that he would like to continue his MLB career next season and would like to return to the Rangers. It doesn’t sound like the Rangers have interest in bringing back the soon-to-be 46-year-old hurler, but we would all like to see him latch on somewhere to keep the dream alive… Michael Brantley missed his second straight game after fouling a ball off of his foot on Wednesday… Chris Sale (shoulder) will rejoin the Red Sox' rotation as an "opener" for Tuesday's game against the Blue Jays… Dustin Pedroia (knee) has been officially shut down for the remainder of the 2018 season… Tigers’ manager Ron Gardenhire conceded that Jose Iglesias (abdomen) may not return this season… Twins’ skipper Paul Molitor indicated that the club has a “few more tests planned” for Miguel Sano’s ailing left knee… Michael Pineda is pondering whether or not to undergo surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee… Ervin Santana is dealing with an irritated nerve in his right middle finger and may not return this season… Alex Cobb could be scratched from his scheduled start on Sunday due to a blister on his right index finger… Brett Phillips could miss the entire weekend series against the Twins with a bruised right shoulder… Marwin Gonzalez (oblique) is expected to return to the Astros’ lineup on Saturday… An MRI revealed that Matt Barnes is dealing with left hip inflammation. He’s considered day-to-day… Jeimer Candelario smashed a walk-off two-run homer to propel the Tigers to victory over the Cardinals… Ji Man Choi clubbed a grand slam in a lopsided win over the Orioles… Nick Ciuffo went 2-for-2 and hit his first big league home run in that rout… Carlos Carrasco matched his season-high with 14 strikeouts over eight innings in a no-decision against the Blue Jays… Kevin Pillar blasted a walk-off homer in the 11th inning to put the Jays in the win column… J.D. Martinez ran his league-leading RBI total up to 117 after plating a pair of runs in a loss to the Astros… David Price struck out 10 over 6 ⅓ innings of two-run ball in a no-decision… Salvador Perez (thumb) crushed a three-run homer in his return to the Royals lineup on Friday… Eddie Rosario (quad) homered his his return to the Twins lineup… Andrew McCutchen blasted his first home run as a member of the Yankees in a win over the Mariners… Masahiro Tanaka punched out 10 over eight stellar innings as the Yankees shut out the M’s… Joey Gallo homered and drove in three runs in a loss to the Athletics… Ramon Laureano clobbered two homers to lead the A’s offense in that victory.

National League Quick Hits: Brandon Morrow (elbow) will throw a bullpen session on Sunday to determine the viability of a potential return at some point this season… The Reds demoted struggling right-hander Homer Bailey to the bullpen, replacing him with Tyler Mahle… Ben Zobrist was scratched from the Cubs’ lineup on Friday due to neck stiffness. That game against the Nationals was ultimately postponed due to inclement weather and will be made up as part of a straight doubleheader on Saturday… An MRI on the right wrist of Maikel Franco came back negative. He’s considered day-to-day… Yadier Molina is expected to miss the entire weekend series against the Tigers with a strained left hamstring… Brandon Crawford missed his second straight game with continued soreness in his left knee… Michael Wacha was scratched from his scheduled rehab start at Triple-A Memphis on Friday due to renewed oblique discomfort… Dan Straily was forced to leave Friday's start against the Pirates in the fifth inning due to a left oblique strain. He’s considered day-to-day… Gregory Polanco was removed from Friday’s game after injuring his left knee and shoulder on an awkward slide into second base… Roman Quinn is set to undergo an X-ray on his injured right foot… Rhys Hoskins blasted a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning to lead the Phillies past the Mets… Aaron Nola notched his 16th win of the season, allowing three runs on just three hits over seven frames against the Mets… Marcell Ozuna clubbed his 19th and 20th home runs of the season in a losing effort against the Tigers… Lewis Brinson stayed hot, going 3-for-4 with a three-run homer in a loss to the Pirates… Ryan Braun homered and drew three walks as the Brewers beat the Giants… Scott Schebler blasted a grand slam as the Reds routed the Padres. It was the Reds’ 10th grand slam of the season, a new franchise record… Phillip Ervin went 3-for-3 with a pair of homers, four RBI and four runs scored to lead the Reds’ offense in that lopsided win… Clayton Kershaw fanned seven over six innings of two-run ball to beat the Rockies… Paul Goldschmidt went 2-for-2 with a homer and three walks as the Diamondbacks topped the Braves… Patrick Corbin whiffed nine and allowed just one run over six frames in a win over the Braves…