Kopech will not be opening the season on the major-league roster, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
This was always the expectation, but now it's confirmed by general manager Rick Hahn. Kopech is a live arm and an exciting pitching prospect but has pitched just 15 innings at the Triple-A level, so he won't be held down for purely service-time reasons. Assuming he keeps blowing away minor-league hitters, though, expect him up in the big-league rotation in the first half of the season.