Pregame Notes: No big change in Michael Kopech’s role as of yet

When asked a potential demotion in role for a struggling player, Pedro Grifol frequently underscores his commitment by saying he "has not thought" of making such a move. He specifically believes that endorsements of players in the media are even more powerful than 1-on-1 conversations where he expresses confidence.

Knowing that going in, I didn't expect Grifol to deliver hard truths on Kopech's performance--as Jim outlined--for what is going on six weeks of poor performance in high-leverage spots for a team that leads all of baseball in both blown saves and games lost when leading after six innings.

"Not really, I don't have to make that decision today because he's not available today," Grifol said on whether he's thought of moving Kopech to lower leverage spots. "When I’m making decisions, I’m going with the best guy available and a lot of times he’s the best guy. And that’s what it is until..he’s had some good games. He just saved the Friday night game. He’s got to go through this. We’re all learning here."

The Friday night game where Kopech allowed a three baserunners and a run amid a four-out save by stranding the tying run on second, seemed much more a success in spite of his issues than a conquest of them. Grifol reiterated that he must diversify his pitch mix more, and Kopech himself has spoken to how that will be easier once he stops falling behind in the count so frequently. It seems patently clear that lingering mechanical issues must be at work for his frequent uncompetitive misses with his fastball, and later parts of this article are going to cover some relievers who were sent to Triple-A to iron out such flaws.

But Grifol, who frequently speaks about never sacrificing a chance to win a major league game for the sake of development, talked about Kopech being in the process of adapting to his new role in response to a suggestion of moving him out of the highest leverage spot of every game in which he appears.

"We've just got to continue to teach him how to mix it up and execute a game plan, really," Grifol said. "Because you get in that situation and you want to lose with your best stuff. His best is his fastball, so he's got to understand that his second-best is not that bad either. And his second-best might be good enough to get people out and his third-best might be good enough to get people out."

-- In happier times, Garrett Crochet making the All-Star team would lead a post like this. It's not like there's a ton to write about it.

"Can’t put that one into words," Crochet said of being voted in via the players' ballot. "But that was cool.”

Conversations about Crochet tend to go in two directions, neither of which are celebrating nor marveling at his accomplishment, although Monday offered the third route of trying to figure why the Marlins were able to foul off so many cutters. His workload is going to get crimped or he's going to get traded, or possibly both.

“Obviously, I pay attention to it," Crochet said. "I see it. I hear it all the time. But I’ve still got to perform. A wise person told me, ‘Every time you take the mound, you’re playing for every team in the league.’ And that’s just the fact of the matter. You never know what can happen in this business. But what I try and focus on is playing for my teammates and playing the game hard.”

Grifol didn't match the mystery of his pre-Dylan Cease trade quotes, but he captured the dueling prerogatives.

"If anybody had Garrett Crochet, all 30 teams, including us, want to be able to keep him and build around him," Grifol said. "But that’s not good business to shut those doors. It’s good business to open them. You have to see what it is, but that’s not my job. My job is here and I’ll let those guys up there do that job."

The implication is that sussing out Crochet's trade value is what lies behind the business doors.

-- Throttling down Jordan Leasure's workload was the blanket explanation for his interlude in Charlotte. His arm not getting into the ideal spot in his delivery was the issue they hoped to address during his time there, and Leasure returns to the active roster upon having identified the root cause.

"I was getting too much counter-rotation at leg lift, and so it was kind of throwing off my direction and everything to follow," Leasure said. "It was kind of a quick fix and it improved my direction. The next game in Durham I think I was back to [97-98 mph]. It was something I overlooked and be able to go down and get some time to step away from all the competitiveness up here and stressfulness of it helped me relax."

Steven Wilson previously noted that he's still working to undo an unsuccessful mechanical adjustment from the offseason. But since his last appearance was striking out the side on Independence Day in Cleveland to drop his ERA to 3.46, Wilson's corresponding trip to Charlotte doesn't have a natural inciting incident. And Grifol sure didn't provide one, possibly because he was worn out by 15 minutes of questioning about Crochet and Kopech.

"I think it’s just roster options," Grifol said. "There’s a lot of guys here who have pitched well, guys here with some length that can help us. We’ll see Willy again. He’s thrown the ball well, here, made some adjustments, we’ll see him again."

-- Tommy Pham was scratched from the lineup after the White Sox took batting practice, for what the team says is a minor dental issue. Luis Robert Jr. was already scheduled for a day off. Those forces combined to produce Corey Julks' first career start in center field.

Candidly, the Twins lineup looks a bit stronger for this one.

First pitch: White Sox vs. Twins

TV: NBCSCH

Lineups: