Dodgers RHP couldn’t find the strike zone, throwing three strikes in his 23 pitches, including 18 straight balls at one point. Kopech is on 60-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement
Dodgers reliever Michael Kopech began a rehab assignment on Thursday night for Triple-A Oklahoma City, and went about as bad as possible. He opened the game for the Comets, and walked all five batters he faced, on only 23 pitches.
Kopech threw 18 consecutive balls at one point, and as he was 3-0 on his final batter snapped that string with a called strike, then frustratingly acknowledged the cheers from the crowd.
If you’re looking for some sort of silver lining, Kopech did touch 98.2 mph and averaged 96.2 mph on his 19 fastballs.
Kopech began the season on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement, a remnant of a busy October, pitching in 10 of the Dodgers 16 postseason games. His offseason work was also slowed by an illness, and was behind during spring training.
During the exhibition Freeway Series in March at Dodger Stadium, manager Dave Roberts at the time said of Kopech, “He’s kind of in a holding pattern. It’s not a setback, but just where he’s at, the build-up, where he’s at. He’s been kind of stagnant lately.”
Kopech was transferred to the 60-day injured list on May 1, which means the earliest he can possibly be activated is May 17. But given that he just started a rehab assignment on Thursday, it’s fair to assume he won’t be fully ready to return to the Dodgers bullpen by then.
We don’t have to look too far back for a comparable timeline, as Evan Phillips also was slow-played during spring training after nursing an injury from last October, like Kopech. Phillips started his rehab assignment with Oklahoma City on April 3, and pitched in six games over 14 days in Triple-A. Phillips was activated on April 19, and even that was a little earlier than planned, but it coincided with Blake Treinen getting placed on the injured list.
Roberts told reporters at Chase Field on Thursday that Kopech would likely make at least 4-5 rehab outings before returning, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.