Meet Patrick Copen

Patrick Copen is a 6-6, 220lb RHP.  He was born February 15, 2002 (24 years old), to Lauren and Curt Copen.  Father Curt played college football at West Virginia Tech. 

Patrick matriculated to Marshall University from Parkersburg Catholic High School, where he was also a basketball star.  At Marshall, Copen majored in Psychology. Marshall is about 70 miles from Parkersburg, so attending Marshall allowed his parents and grandparents to watch him pitch in college.

Copen became the Friday night starter in his sophomore year.  His college stats did not wow anyone, but his “stuff” and his 6’6” frame enticed the Dodgers to draft him in the 7^th round of the 2023 draft.  He inked a $225.5K contract with a $228K slot value. 

After the 2023 draft, he started his professional career at ACL Dodgers and Rancho.  In 2024, Copen started the season at Rancho where he pitched well enough to get promoted to Great Lakes on June 19, 2024.  He was becoming one of the breakout arms in 2024 when his whole world flipped. 

On August 20, 2024, he was facing Cooper Pratt, a top 10 Brewers SS prospect at the time, when he hung a cutter.  

“It was a cutter that was a little bit too depth-y that I left up in the zone,” Copen said. “Really good barrel, right back to me, couldn’t get a glove up in time. I knew at that time that it hurt really bad.”

A 100+ MPH Pratt line drive hit Copen in the head, causing numerous injuries, including a retinal detachment in his right eye. He learned soon after that he’d lost the vision in his right eye.

Something no baseball fan ever wants to write, but not life threatening

Great Lakes Loons pitcher Patrick Coppen was hit in the face with a 100mph line drive…He did not loose consciousness, and is being carted off the field @msalas24 @snidog @westcoastdude84@seiderblom

— Daniel Jackett (@daniel_jackett) August 20, 2024

The Dodgers quickly assured Copen that they’d do everything they could to help him continue to pitch, and by December 2024 he’d started throwing off a mound.

“It felt absolutely great, I was juiced for a day and a half,” Copen said. “Probably that day forward I thought, ‘I’m going all-in on this, I can definitely do this.’”

In 2025 spring training, Copen went to work learning how to pitch with his skewed vision, adjusting to holding runners on, pitcher fielding practice and learning how to locate in time to break camp with Great Lakes and take his first turn in the rotation that April.  He accomplished that feat.

His first start in 2025 was April 4 against Lake County Captains (Guardians).

“It was freezing cold, but let me tell you, I was the only one not shivering in that entire stadium,” Copen said. “Felt absolutely amazing the entire time.” 

He completed 3.2 innings with 79 pitches.  He did not allow a hit or run, but walked 4 batters and struck out 9.  Overall it was a successful return to pitching. 

Copen would again get a June promotion, this time to AA (June 6, 2025).

For the season, in 117.2 IP, he struck out an organizational high 152 batters.  The downside is he walked 84 batters.

Copen earned his first big league spring training invite this year.  He started the season back at Tulsa.  In his first game, April 4 against San Antonio, Copen completed 5.0 scoreless IP, allowing 2 hits, issuing 3 BB, and striking out 8.  He threw 81 pitches/51 strikes.

In his 2^nd start, Copen was throwing a no-hitter before allowing a single with one out in the 7^th.  After 88 pitches, Copen was relieved by Kelvin Ramirez who retired the side.  Final numbers – 6.1 IP, 0 runs, 1 hit, 4 BB, 9 K, 88 pitches/55 strikes.  Total – 11.1 IP, 3 hits, 7 BB, 17K, 167 pitches/106 strikes (63.5% strikes).

Here is to another June promotion to AAA.

Copen is a consensus top 30 prospect.  Below is a scouting report issued by Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and Fangraphs.  One consensus take on Copen’s future is that he is more apt to be a late inning high leverage reliever than as a starter at the MLB level.  Still too many walks, but otherwise a fantastic start to the 2026 season

Baseball America #20

Scouting Report: At its best, Copen’s stuff can overwhelm hitters. He works with five pitches, including four-seam and sinking fastballs that live at 92-94 mph and peak at 99, and a cutter that comes in a couple of ticks slower. He supports the fastballs with a sweepy slider in the mid-80s and a downer curveball in the low 80s. Copen’s stuff is filthy, and his repertoire produces more swords than all of the Medieval Times restaurants combined. Problem is, he doesn’t throw enough strikes. His 87 walks were the most of any Dodgers pitcher, and his overall strike rate was just 57%. His frenetic delivery lends itself to power over precision, and none of his pitches were thrown in the zone more than 58% of the time. Copen is likely to add a changeup in 2026, but the version has not been settled upon.

BA Scouting Grades Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 45 | Cutter: 60 | Sweeper: 70 | Control: 30

MLB Pipeline #29

Scouting Report: After working with a 91-94 mph fastball during his final college season, Copen now operates at 95-98 mph and touches 100 with bat-missing carry. His high-spin mid-80s slider has so much depth that it’s difficult to hit and even harder to land in the strike zone. He uses a low-90s cutter as his third pitch and threw just four changeups in 2025.

The 6-foot-6 Copen has a long arm action with a deep plunge in the back, and he has trouble keeping his long limbs in sync. He walked 13 percent of the batters he faced at Marshall and 15 percent his first three years as a pro. He may never harness his stuff well enough to make it as a starter, but his fastball and slider could make him a dynamic bullpen weapon.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 65 | Slider: 60 | Cutter: 50 | Control: 35 | Overall: 40

Fangraphs #29 – SIRP

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Fastball	Slider	Cutter	Command	Sits/Tops
60/65	50/60	50/60	30/35	94-99 / 100

Copen is an ultra-long 6-foot-6 and has an inconsistent release point, with his walk rates in the 13-16% range since he entered pro ball. His size and small school background justified early-career development as a starter just in case things clicked late, but realistically he’s going to be limited to the bullpen by his command, which is lacking. Copen’s stuff is nasty enough that he might be able to work in a late-inning role upon conversion, especially if he throws harder once he’s deployed an inning at a time, but his command is also bad enough that it will be tough to trust him in high-leverage spots. He can mix a sinker variant of his fastball in with the cutting version, and he has a distinct cutter that sits 90-92 mph, as well as a mid-80s slider of mixed quality. Copen’s breaking balls have enormous potential because of his ability to spin them up around 3,000 rpm, but their movement is erratic right now. This is a big arrow up guy compared to when he was drafted and is a potential impact reliever on track to debut in 2027.

Baseball Prospectus #20 – Same scouting grade as others.

Bruce Kuntz #28 – Same scouting grade as others

BA’s Breakout Candidate:

Patrick Copen, RHP, Dodgers

What a story this would be. Two years ago, a line drive to the head left Copen partially blind. Not only did he get back on the mound in 2025, but he also showed the potential to dominate. The Marshall alum is big and physical at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, and he has the kind of stuff to draw plenty of ugly swings.

Copen’s four-seamer, cutter and sweeper each grade as potentially plus or better, but he’ll need to throw more strikes to get the most out of his gifts. He was one of 15 minor league pitchers in 2025 with 110 or more innings pitched and a strikeout rate of 29% or better. Five pitchers in that phylum can be found among BA’s Top 100 Prospects.

Copen also struggles to throw strikes. His walk rate was an unsightly 16%, which could push him to the bullpen. Most relievers are former starters, however, and Copen clearly has the kind of stuff that could be downright unfair over an inning or two toward the end of games.