{"id":670852,"date":"2026-04-08T20:13:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T20:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/670852\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T20:13:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T20:13:17","slug":"diamondbacks-named-fit-for-former-dodgers-reliever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/670852\/","title":{"rendered":"Diamondbacks Named Fit for Former Dodgers Reliever"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">The Arizona Diamondbacks still have a bullpen problem. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">While the D-backs&#8217; pitching staff has been a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/diamondbacks\/onsi\/arizona-diamondbacks-analysis\/d-backs-one-glaring-problem-offense\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> bit more productive than might have been expected <\/a>in terms of run prevention, there is still an obvious hole in their relief department. Even for some of the better bullpens in baseball, adding quality arms is a positive endeavor. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6m\">A recent article from <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/25415103-landing-spots-biggest-mlb-free-agents-still-unsigned\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bleacher Report&#8217;s Zachary D. Rymer<\/a> ran through some remaining free agent options still available. For the Diamondbacks, Rymer pointed out former Dodgers and White Sox reliever <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/player\/michael-kopech-656629\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Kopech<\/a> \u2014 who is still unsigned.<\/p>\n<p>Diamondbacks named fit for former Dodger Michael Kopech<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knq9tpwh8e5b1gfr6q.jpg\" alt=\"Jun 14, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA;  Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Michael Kopech throws during the eighth\" title=\"Jun 14, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA;  Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Michael Kopech throws during the eighth\" width=\"4372\" height=\"2459\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6z\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Jun 14, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA;  Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Michael Kopech throws during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ryan Sun-Imagn Images | Ryan Sun-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">Kopech has been in the majors since 2018, but has only pitched 411 career innings over parts of six seasons, despite beginning his career as a starting pitcher. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">The issue for the flamethrowing right-hander has been health. He&#8217;s was on and off the Injured List three times during the 2025 season, which limited him to just 11 innings with the Dodgers.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">&#8220;Despite some bright spots here and there, Michael Kopech&#8217;s career has yet to fully launch,&#8221; Rymer writes. &#8220;And if it&#8217;s a question of why he&#8217;s still a free agent, you probably have to look no further than his injury history.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\">&#8220;However, we&#8217;re still talking about a guy who touched 101 mph last year. And because he gets good extension out of his 6&#8217;3&#8243;, 220-pound frame, his heat comes in looking even hotter than what the radar gun says.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7f\">There&#8217;s no denying Kopech has been an extremely effective arm when healthy. His fastball hits triple-digits regularly, and he&#8217;s posted a 3.89 ERA and 3.76 FIP \u2014 with a 12.12 K\/9 as well \u2014 since becoming a reliever.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">&#8220;He might be the most high-reward free agent left standing. And at this point, the risk of signing him is likely minimal. If the D-backs are to have any hope of taking down the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, they need to do something about their bullpen,&#8221; Rymer continued.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7l\">Kopech is still just 29 years old. While health is certainly a major red flag, the Diamondbacks could use as many quality innings as they can possibly get out of any of their pitching staff. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7o\">If Kopech can help Arizona stay even somewhat afloat in the relief department before Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk get back to full strength (which may not be until 2027), he&#8217;s an arm worth taking a flyer on. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Arizona Diamondbacks still have a bullpen problem. While the D-backs&#8217; pitching staff has been a bit more&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2404],"tags":[146,22,4314,5,38,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-670852","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-diamondbacks","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-diamondbacks","10":"tag-arizonadiamondbacks","11":"tag-baseball","12":"tag-diamondbacks","13":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116370919973156637","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}