Michael Kopech is back, and after what he has been through, his Friday outing felt like more than just another relief appearance. In the Los Angeles Dodgers’ narrow 5-5 win over the Nationals, Kopech entered the sixth inning, and he showed why LA still believes in him.
The $5.2 million Dodger star retired three of the four batters he had faced. He struck out two and needed just 13 pitches to get the job done—nine of them for the strikes. It was a thrilling performance, but it came at the end of a frustrating stretch that Kopech is now only opening up about.
Kopech mentioned that right from the beginning of the off-season, he figured something was not feeling right, and hence, the team decided to get him checked out. And lo and behold, his intuition was right.
“When I started throwing bullpens in the offseason. My velocity wasn’t quite there, and I felt some tightness. I was just kind of waiting on it to go away. Um, and I was having conversations with the team—with Connor and Mark—and kind of just telling them like, “Hey, it’s not feeling great.” But I was optimistic that it’d feel better. And they were like, “Let’s just take a break, get it checked out, and see what we got,” said Kopech at Baseball Isn’t Boring. And what followed next was a delayed start to his throwing program. Kopech spent most of the spring training on the sidelines and watched everyone get ahead. And he has gone through a lot, battling through right forearm inflammation during the 2024 postseason and then landing on the IL this season with a shoulder impingement.
The right-hander didn’t appear in a single Cactus League game. He even came clean about how rehabbing is a whole other ballgame, and how one is part of the Los Angeles Dodgers team but not really. That sense of isolation, though, was not new for him, but it didn’t make things better. He also just recently talked about the pain he pushed through during the postseason last year. For him, it was just adrenaline that helped him go on. Now healthy and back, Kopech is finally trying to turn the page, and maybe Friday was just the start after repeated setbacks. And while for the Dodgers, it’s great news with another strong arm returning, the pitching staff is still a major concern.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation is still in flux
Now, Michael Kopech may be back, but if you are being honest, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff looks like a patchwork quilt! Big names like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Walker Buehler are all spending time in the IL this season. So it is clear the Los Angeles Dodgers need more than patience. And sure, for now, they are comfortable at the top of the NL West, but if you know October baseball, you know it doesn’t wait for arms to get healthy; it simply demands them.
This is also where the trade deadline gets interesting. Yahoo Sports insider Jake Mintz recently dropped the idea of how the Dodgers may target Erick Fedde from the St. Louis Cardinals. He is not a blockbuster name, but sometimes the deadline moves have to be less loud and more smart, and Fedde has been just that. In Fedde’s first full season with his team, he owns a 3.54 ERA over 15 starts, with a 116 ERA+, so that puts him well above average for the league. Plus, at 32, he is not a future ace, but he is that kind of mid-rotation stability the Los Angeles Dodgers might need now. Plus, he is healthy, and it’s a rare thing in LA right now, isn’t it?
And while the Los Angeles Dodgers don’t want to give up a top-tier prospect, if St. Louis wants to deal, Fedde could be a low-cost, high-upside option for the pitching staff. Don’t you think?
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