White Sox Minor Keys: April 9, 2018

Michael Kopech's first start of the regular season was worth the wait.

The White Sox' top pitching prospect struck out eight Norfolk Tides over four shutout innings, over which he allowed two hits, two walks and an HBP. He threw 51 of 77 pitches for strikes.

Regarding the slider, look at this thing:

NBC Sports Chicago compiled all eight of his strikeouts:

As for how his teammates fared, let's go to the box scores:

Charlotte 4, Norfolk 1

• Daniel Palka went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
• Casey Gillaspie was 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
• Michael Kopech: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, 1 HBP
• Thyago Vieira: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K

Chattanooga 5, Birmingham 2

• Tito Polo went 1-for-4 with a triple and a strikeout.
• Jameson Fisher, 1-for-2 with a double, sac fly, walk and strikeout.
• Zack Collins singled and struck out twice.
• Seby Zavala was 0-for-3.
• Danny Mendick, 0-for-3 with a K.

Winston-Salem 6, Myrtle Beach 4

• Luis Alexander Basabe singled twice, struck out thrice and stole a base.
• Blake Rutherford went 3-for-4 with a double.
• Alex Call was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
• Gavin Sheets, 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
• Micker Adolfo was 2-for-4 with a double.
• Ti'Quan Forbes was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Newly acquired Ricardo Pinto didn't get that stretched out: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K

Asheville 7, Kannapolis 6 (10 innings)

• Luis Gonzalez went 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
• Justin Yurchak was 0-for-3 with a walk.
• Evan Skoug, 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
• Tate Blackman was 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.
• Michael Hickman, 1-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout.