Reynaldo López is out of big league camp. He won't be on the White Sox roster for Opening Day.
But to think that a sour springtime audition for a spot in the starting rotation closes the book on López's tenure in a White Sox uniform would be to ignore how baseball works.
White Sox manager Tony La Russa made it clear Tuesday, a day after López was included in the latest round of spring cuts, that the right-hander is heading to the team's alternate training site to continue to work as a starting pitcher, to be ready in case he's needed at the major league level.
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"What he needs are extended innings. And the innings are not there," La Russa said. "It’s the time in the spring where right now the priority has gone to Carlos (Rodón), and the other guys are taking innings and you have a bunch of relievers that are going to get the rest of it. So, that was true for several guys that we sent out. To keep them in shape, they are better off going down and working regularly and getting extended."
And in all likelihood, López will be needed at some point.
The White Sox know that as well as any team, having spent the last couple seasons wearing their starting-pitching depth to the bone. Two years ago, it was that ineffective parade of starting-pitching options that included the likes of Ervin Santana, Odrisamer Despaigne and Manny Bañuelos. Last year, even though the COVID-delayed start to the regular season seemingly blessed the White Sox with starting-pitching depth, López, Rodón and Jimmy Lambert were all injured in the opening days of the campaign, again forcing the White Sox to turn to unwanted bullpen days and suffer through a few ineffective turns by Gio González.
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For that reason, López will be kept warm as a starting pitcher at the alternate site rather than hang around as a long man in the big league bullpen. Though that role was considered for López, La Russa indicated Tuesday that it's unlikely the team even carries a long man on the Opening Day roster, valuing the presence of that starting depth over an innings eater should a start go haywire at some point.
"We just think there’s going to be a priority on protection starters," La Russa said. "And it’s much better that Reynaldo is stretching out, and if we need him, he can come up and throw 100-something pitches. Better use for his talents and our needs.
"There is a premium on our starters getting us into the second half of the game. ... We think we're deep enough. ... So just play the game, put the roster together the best you can and be ready to adjust depending on how the game goes. My answer is yes, we have enough relievers, and I think we’ll have enough starter depth that it works."
While the White Sox rotation looks solid at the moment — three aces top the group in Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel and Lance Lynn, with Dylan Cease and Rodón in the middle of nice springs as the Nos. 4 and 5 — the team's in-house starting-pitching depth is not vast. A potential evolution of Michael Kopech from reliever to starter over the course of the campaign would probably be the ideal form of backing up the five guys on the starting staff. Should trouble strike before the White Sox are ready for Kopech to make that kind of jump, fill-in duties would fall to one of López, Lambert and Jonathan Stiever.
Being far and away the most experienced of that trio, López would figure to have a good shot to be called on. But La Russa said that while experience gives López an edge, he'll have to be the one performing in order to actually be the choice.
"He would have the advantage," La Russa said. "But ... you've got real capable people that are running that program. And if the need comes, we’re going to ask who’s throwing the best. So your responsibility is to be the best, or tied for first. If they’re tied for first, experience is an edge.
"When you go down there, the worst thing you can do is pout because when the opportunity comes, you’re not going to get the well-deserved compliments from the staff. They are going to be honest."
So, no, the book is not closed on López, one of the key players acquired in the trades that jumpstarted the South Side rebuild back in 2016. After a season as the team's best starting pitcher, in 2018, he's been woefully inconsistent and routinely knocked around by opposing lineups.
Those poor results continued this spring, even after working on changes with new pitching coach Ethan Katz.
Maybe López will find his way to the 'pen at some point, who knows? But right now, the White Sox expect him to be ready to start in case of emergency.
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