For those who wanted to see Reynaldo López's reworked arm action in motion, Cleveland's spring training setup was in no mood to oblige. The third untelevised/unstreamed game of the last four cost White Sox fans an opportunity to see López open his shot at redemption.
Instead, you'll have to take his line for it. López retired all six batters he faced, one by strikeout, as the White Sox won their first spring training game in seven tries.
If that doesn't suffice, you can also try taking his word for it:
"As soon as he was hired, (Katz) reached out to me," López said. "He had some ideas, he had some videos from the last couple of years. He showed me the videos, and he told me that I was tipping my pitches, that was one of the problems. I was leaving my arm behind my body. … Then we tried to correct all those little things and also to shorten my arm swing. That was why we started working on the change with my arm action.
If that doesn't suffice, you'll can try taking Lucas Giolito's word for it.
‘‘I watched [Lopez’s] first bullpen in camp, and I was like: ‘Oh, my God, your arm action. You cleaned it up,’ ’’ Giolito said. “His curveball is back. The curveball he had back with the Washington Nationals [when he and Giolito were teammates], like, there it is. OK.’’
And if that doesn't suffice, there's plenty of spring left to wait and see for ourselves.
It shouldn't suffice, mostly because the conversation around López has generally shied away from the question of whether his stuff is adequate. Two years ago, López lacked a go-to secondary pitch. Last year, López hurt his shoulder early and lost a couple ticks. He's pushed the topic toward mentality and focus over that time. There's short-term comfort there, in that focus is something one has the power to address. That just means it doesn't really work as a recurring theme over months and years.
In that sense, I welcome his mechanics to the conversation, even if I'm on guard against them being used for the similar purpose of papering over the bigger question about whether he can hang. And by posting a couple of zeroes, he's given Carlos Rodón a performance to answer. Rodón threw three innings of live batting practice on Saturday, so Tony La Russa isn't shying away from making it a direct competition.
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The other battery battle
With Yasmani Grandal sitting out the first week due to a sore knee, all of the White Sox's backup candidates have gotten ample playing time, and all of them have successes on their sheets:
- Jonathan Lucroy: 3-for-4, 2B, BB
- Zack Collins: 2-for-7, HR, 2 BB, 1 K
- Yermín Mercedes: 4-for-9, 2 2B
- Seby Zavala: 1-for-3, 2 K
La Russa has yet to utter a discouraging word about anybody wearing a White Sox uniform, so it comes down which praise means the most.
Well, James Fegan noticed Lucas Giolito's tone when discussing Lucroy:
Staff ace Lucas Giolito is looking for a new sensei after the departure of James McCann, and while he’s often complimentary of teammates, he is very complimentary of Lucroy.
“I felt fantastic throwing to Luc,” Giolito said, inviting maximum confusion by using the nickname his father uses for him. “He’s been extremely receptive to my notes, like, ‘Hey, this is where I like the target; this is how I like the catcher positioned.’ Going to a veteran catcher, sometimes it’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to mess with the catcher too much.’ But he was the first to tell me, ‘You tell me what you need, and I’m going to make it happen.’ I think that’s kind of a testament to the player he is, the work ethic he has behind the scenes. The targets, the pitch calling was fantastic today. I’m looking forward to working with him more.”
And LaMond Pope noticed what Lance Lynn had to say.
“Jonathan and I go way back, first seven years in the big leagues he’s played against me a lot so he knows what I like to do and how to do it,” Lynn said after pitching two scoreless innings Thursday against the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale, Ariz. “It was pretty easy. He had a good idea going in on how I want to attack and not a whole lot needed to be talked about.”
Even if Lucroy's name can be penciled in pretty firmly, the others aren't out of it. Grandal has to take the field, Lucroy isn't a lock to hold up physically himself given his history, and then we'll see what the Sox plan to do with Andrew Vaughn. No set DH would give the Sox room for a third catcher, because Grandal's bat would be the best use of the position on his days off.
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Product update
Our first batch of Sox Machine zip-up hoodies sold out in four days, but you can still order one through the site in order to reserve a spot in the second shipment.
The early reviews have been favorable.
"I got mine today, and it’s very nice! It fits great and is super comfortable/soft. I highly recommend getting one to anyone on the fence."
-- Foulkelore
Got mine today as well and I too am pleased with my purchase.
-- Joliet Orange Sox
Right now, I'm planning to keep the backorder window open a week, after which I'll place the order, which would put them on track to ship out around Opening Day, give or take a couple days. If I've piqued your interest, you can order below:
(Photo by Kiyoshi Mio/Icon Sportswire)
