Michael Kopech (8-13-24)

Michael talks about benifitting from a change of scenery, staying calm on the mound, and his favorite type of music. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're joined right now by one of the newest members
of the Dodger bullpen, Michael Kopek. Michael, thanks a lot
for the time. Appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Yeah, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
It was great to introduce myself to you on the
bus yesterday. It feels like I got some streak cred
with you after you recognized the slide gate.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
Yeah. I didn't realize it was you until I asked
the question, and then you made it seem like I
had kind of attacked you there, So I'm sorry about that.
But yeah, I want to see around two at it.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
I would need Michael Kopek and some other Dodgers to
support me at the bottom of the slide if I
went down.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yeah, like I said, I'd support you. I'd help brace
your fall in somewhere or another.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Hey, last night, another great outing with the Dodgers. How
have you been able to make the transition so seamless
or appear to make it so seamless?

Speaker 3 (00:49):
You know what, I think, it's just for me a
matter of a couple of things. A change of scenery
has been important for me because the start of my
career didn't exactly go the way I for it to
have gone, but also coming to a team that is
disinvested in winning, that has so many moving pieces that

(01:10):
you don't have to have, you know, one guy go
out there and be a hero anything like that necessarily.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
You just you have to come in and step into
your job.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
And even if you don't that day, you know that
there's gonna be guys to pick you up. And so
it's it's almost, you know, just playing stress free because
there's MVP after MVP on this team, there's All Star
after All Star on this team.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
There's some of the.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
Best pitchers in all of baseball in this team, if
not the best pitcher or in all the baseball. So
you don't necessarily worry about dropping the ball and you know,
messing up a game or what have you, because you
know that everything is kind of being picked up after
you if if something slips that day.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
And the Dodgers do define roles, but they don't define
it by innings. They do it by groupings of hitters.
Last night, the highest leverage situation was in the eighth
inning when you came in. Does that happen with other teams?
Where is that unique?

Speaker 2 (02:08):
I'm in my experience, it's unique.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
I like how it plays out, though, because I think
amongst the guys in the bullpen, each and every one
of us realized that we could close out a game
on any given night, but we could also be in in,
you know, in the fifth if the situation called for
it or what have you. And I don't think any

(02:32):
of us doubts one situation versus another for any guy
down there.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
So it's been pretty it's been pretty unique. It's been
pretty cool, though.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
I like pitching when the game calls for me to pitch,
whether that be the you know, the first through the
ninth that I don't care.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
Have you embraced being a super reliever, I mean that's
what we call a lot of these guys. Have you
fully embraced it? And is that part of the reason
why you're excelling?

Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, I don't. I don't know if I like any
kind of label on what I do rather than pitcher.
You know, I've been in almost every position you can
imagine as a pitcher in the big leagues.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Have been a starter, middle.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
Relief, a bolt guy, long guy, a leverage guy, closer
at times. But I think for me, it's just going
out there and pitching and matching the.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Necessity of the game.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
So right now, every game seems like leverage because we're
a winning team fighting for you know, you know, a
really good position in the playoffs, so it's really easy
to go out there and compete.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Speaking of labels, you would expect from a relief pitcher
or pitcher that throws as hard as you do, we
would be blown away with your hair on fire, very
outgoing personality. But that's not who Michael Kopak is.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
No, you know, I think that just came with growing up.
But at one point I probably was more after the
the energy and the personality or what have you. But
you know, I I've kind of adapted to the game
and I found my my calm and my piece in
this game. And you know, especially since having kids, I

(04:14):
feel like that I I operate on a on that
level much easier than you know, getting too ramped up
and riding the wave or the roller coaster. How emotions go.
So I try my best to say even keel, not
to say that I'm perfect at it, but I yeah,
I don't like getting too high.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah the parenting change, you did it give you better
perspective on baseball?

Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah? Absolutely?

Speaker 3 (04:39):
This game was you know my my whole world for
a really long time, and then after having kids, you
realize how small a part of my life this really is,
even though there's a magnitude of it that touches everything
in my life, Like not taking the importance away from
it at all. You know, it's my livelihood and it's

(05:01):
how I provide. And you know, I've got to see
a lot of the world because of this game. And
I'm very appreciative of this game. But at the same time,
if it was stripped away from me at any given moment,
you know, my pieces in my family and my kids
and I have a lot more to live for than
just this game.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
But I am appreciated to be where I am. I know.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
All right, So I saw you out here earlier doing
your pre work preparation. What music are you listening to?
A c DC back in black? Are you more yacht rock?
Where does Michael Kopek fit?

Speaker 3 (05:34):
To be honest, I wasn't listening to music. I was
kind of just, you know, fighting with some demons in
my head. We all are, yeah, right for the most part, though,
I kind of mix it up. I like country music,
I like Christian rap or you know, Christian music. In general,
it branches pretty pretty far and wide, and I like

(05:56):
a lot of classic rock as well, but I'm not
penned on one genre necessarily.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
All right, Michael, thanks a lot for sharing more of
who you are, introducing yourself more to Los Angeles. We
all appreciate what you do on the mound, and maybe
I'll see you at the bottom of the slide tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
Kopek sounds good. I see there.