GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Upon further review, Don Cooper and his two young pitchers felt a little better about their previous day's rough outings on Wednesday.
The White Sox pitching coach said he took several positives from watching video of top pitching prospects Michael Kopech and Reynaldo Lopez, both of whom were hit hard in starting performances on Tuesday. Cooper not only identified several areas where the pitchers performed well, but he also takes into account the context -- that each youngster, including Lucas Giolito at the Cubs on Monday, made their first-ever appearance for the White Sox.
Kopech allowed four earned runs in an inning, Lopez allowed five runs in 1 1/3 innings and Giolito allowed a run and three hits in two innings.
"If anybody has a tough outing in the first one it's like a mulligan for me," Cooper said. "You gotta understand, some of these guys it's their first big league camp. Some of them are 20 years old so you're anxious. You want to go show everybody what you do and you might be revving it a little too high sometimes, but that's part of the learning process, too."
Kopech and Lopez both had the same reaction to their reviews on Wednesday -- they didn't miss as often as they thought. Pitching against Seattle, Kopech wasn't pleased with himself after he allowed a three-run homer on an 0-2 slider he left up to Mitch Haniger.
But Kopech said his session with Cooper left him feeling more positive when he realized that out of nearly 30 pitches he only missed his spot four times.
Lopez said he wondered on Tuesday why some of his pitches seemed flatter than normal. He realized he left his shoulder open a number of times. Lopez, 23, said he has used video for the past three years since Single-A and realizes the value it brings to the process.
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"I thought yesterday that I hung out some pitches but today watching the video I saw they were located," Lopez said through an interpreter. "They just hit it."
"It's really important because when you're in the game because you don't have time to realize or identify what is going good and what is going wrong. Once you have time to review the video and speak with your pitching coach, you understand what you did good or what you did bad and then you try to build from that point on."
Said Cooper: "Really it's just plot a course for each guy. It's exciting because we got guys with good arms and they're going to be a part of our future and let's lay the ground work now."
The general consensus among White Sox coaches and staff is that Kopech showed plenty of positives during his two-strikeout performance. They want him to focus on how to improve for next time rather than worry if he'll get another shot.
"It's not the end of the world when things like that happen," manager Rick Renteria said. "He's going to get the ball again and get out there and obviously try to continue to execute.
"We talk about pitchers with good arms. The thing they still have to do is command. Yesterday's experience was good. He was out there on a big league field facing a really good lineup and it shows you if you make mistakes there's a chance it might get hit."
Cooper looks forward to the next round of outings, which begins with Giolito on Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels. He continues to be impressed with all three pitchers, including Kopech whom Cooper said "my eyes lit up," the first time he watched video.
"I'll take his future any day," Cooper said.