Major League Baseball players don’t get to that level on talent alone. They’re also elite at the game within the game — an attention to detail that separates themselves from other players.
You’d be shocked by what a big-league hitter can notice during an at-bat. That’s why the slightest fundamental flaw or inconsistent mechanics can derail a pitcher’s day. That exact scenario played out last week with Michael Kopech’s rough day against the San Francisco Giants.
He was slightly tipping his pitches, and that was enough to help the Giants hit five home runs and score seven runs against the right-hander. The folks at Jomboy Media took notice to what happened and broke it down in an excellent video.
The Giants figured out that Kopech was tipping his pitches and hit four homers in one inning, a breakdown pic.twitter.com/oLi5dZE7zI
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) April 10, 2023
Basically, Kopech’s glove was the major issue for him. When he was throwing a curveball, the glove would flare just enough for the hitter to notice. When Kopech’s glove remained flat on his wrist, he’d throw one of his other pitches (fastball, slider or changeup). The Giants were able to sit on that curveball when the glove flared, but they managed to put great swings on the other three pitches as well.
Still, when an MLB hitter is able to identify a pitch, the job becomes markedly easier. That minor inconsistency from Kopech was all the Giants needed. And to the White Sox pitcher’s credit, he identified the issue and cleaned it up for Sunday’s appearance where he allowed one run on two hits in six innings. You just would have liked the White Sox to spot it during the initial game.
Kopech seemed to clean up this issue yesterday v. Pittsburgh. The glove seemed to be in the same position for his fastball and breaking ball. https://t.co/9alzn4AgQE pic.twitter.com/A2TE8pjbY6
— CHGO White Sox (@CHGO_WhiteSox) April 10, 2023
Fans also appreciated the great explanation video.