Michael Kopech and Jake Arrieta.
Could there be two pro athletes so similar yet so far apart?
They’re both major-league pitchers in Chicago, both right-handers, both good-sized (Kopech is 6-3, 225 pounds; Arrieta is 6-4, 230 pounds) and both trying to re-establish themselves. Kopech is in a comeback season with the White Sox and Arrieta with the Cubs.
As throwers, they once were fireballers supreme. At his peak, Arrieta could hit 98 mph. Kopech had an insane heater once clocked at 105 mph in a minor-league game. One day, for kicks, the kid threw a 3-ounce ball (an official major-league ball weighs between 5 and 5.