Michael Kopech is back with the Chicago White Sox, explaining why he opted out last year and his outlook for 2021: ‘I need this game a lot more than I realized’

Michael Kopech’s arm is fine, the Chicago White Sox pitcher told the media Saturday afternoon in a teleconference from Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz.

More important, perhaps, his head also is in the right place as Kopech prepares to return to the game after missing the 2019 season following reconstructive surgery on his right elbow and opting out of the shortened 2020 season.

An introspective Kopech spoke Saturday for the first time since last spring training in Arizona after informing the Sox early last summer he would sit out and then disappearing from public life.

So why did Kopech opt out?

“There were multiple reasons,” he said of his decision. “COVID being one of the reasons, with having some health issues in my family. But there were a lot of personal reasons as well.

“And I think I’ve been pretty candid in the past about my mental health being important and prioritizing that so I can be the best person on the field. That’s a lot of what it came down to as well.”

Kopech didn’t elaborate but in the past has been open about suffering from depression and has constantly been searching for what’s important in his life. He and his wife, actress Vanessa Morgan, reportedly are going through a separation but welcomed their son, River, into the world on Jan. 29.

Kopech said being a first-time father has “put things in perspective” and helped him discover more about himself.

“Just like any young person does, I’ve lived a life that’s pretty selfish for the past six, seven years, whatever my minor-league career has been,” he said. “But now I have a life that I have to look after that’s a lot more important than being selfish. My career doesn’t just dictate my future anymore, but it (also) dictates my son’s, and that’s all the motivation I need.”

Morgan explained the reason for their son’s name on her Instagram, writing: “Early on in my pregnancy I was walking the River everyday, gave me so much peace I knew that was the perfect name for his lil soul. Plus Michael & I really wanted a nature name.”

Kopech turns 25 on April 30 and hopes to have long and successful career ahead of him. He was one of the more heralded Sox prospects in years after arriving from the Boston Red Sox in the Chris Sale deal that kicked off the rebuild, and his debut in 2018 at Guaranteed Rate Field became one of the anticipated moments of the rebuild.

But he was shut down after four starts with the elbow injury, and after missing so much time the last two years the Sox are going to use him out of the bullpen, at least at the outset of 2020, just as they did with Sale at the start of his career.

The Sox turned a corner in the rebuild in 2020 and now have championship aspirations as Kopech makes his long-awaited return. He said he watched their games on occasion last summer but “probably not as much as I would like to have” seen them.

“I was taking some time away from baseball,” he said. “And it felt like it was much-needed for me. But I knew the team was doing well and I was watching a lot of my friends out there competing their butts off and really getting after it and trying to prepare themselves for the playoff season.

“And watching them break into the playoffs … I wanted to be part of this competing team. Moving forward, all I can do is hope that I can help them compete this season for a more substantial win.”

Kopech always has been inward-looking, maintaining his baseball career was always part of the journey, not the entire focus of his being.

Time away from the game apparently has changed the way he looks at his profession.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve had nothing going on, but the past year I’ve really had an opportunity to sit back and look at things from the outside,” he said. “I’ve been around a lot of people that care about my career but also care about me as a person.

“I’ve spent a lot of time trying to better myself for my teammates when I got back and for my own life. Taking that time away from baseball was kind of hard, but it was important for me. But now I’m back and I’m ready to compete.”

What he learned, he said, was that “I need this game a lot more than I realized.”

Perhaps putting baseball in the rearview mirror for a stretch was what he needed to come to that conclusion. When you’re goal from childhood is to become a major-league player, it can make you neglect other things that are important if life.

“It’s a lot easier said than done to step away from something you’ve done for your entire life,” he said. “It sounds like an exaggeration, but no, it’s been my entire life.

“Taking a step back from that and realizing how big a piece it is for this entire puzzle for me, it’s just put it all in perspective and (helped to) regain the motivation to get back out there along with some other things that have happened in my life.

“I think I’ve found that motivation that I may have lost — not that I ever completely lost it. I never want to be known as a guy who didn’t work really hard for everything he’s had to earn. But with this time away I’ve really got a chance to come back and prove to myself at least that this is what I want to do.”

Kopech was thankful to the Sox organization for giving him the opportunity to step away. And he was grateful to his teammates for welcoming him back with open arms and no judgment.

“This is a team that can clearly win without me,” he said. “But I want to be part of a winning team, and as long as they want me to be part of it, that’s exciting for me.”

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