Right-hander Reynaldo Lopez is one of the high-ceiling commodities in the White Sox starting rotation on whom the upcoming shortened season depends greatly.
Lopez, 26, has shown flashes of greatness — he’s on the Sox’ single game leaders list for strikeouts in a game with 14 against the Tigers last April — and being just ordinary or worse. The bad starts damaging his consistency quotient, he says, were mostly attributed to things going on in his brain, not the big arm that delivers very good stuff.
Suspecting that to be the case, Lopez sought out team psychologist Jeff Fishbein after the 2019 season. Lopez believes he’s on to something and can’t wait to bring a new mindset to the pitcher’s mound when big league games begin July 24.
“Sometimes as players we are struggling on thoughts, especially nervous thoughts when something goes wrong,” Lopez said through translator Billy Russo Tuesday. “And for players that’s one of the bigger challenges: get over it, keep moving forward. It’s not always easy.”
Lopez said he used to think the most important thing to performing was his physical talent.
“I was wrong,” he said. “That was one of the reasons I kept failing. Because I wasn’t prepared mentally to face those situations, to face those thoughts.”
Sessions with a psychologist have already helped Lopez, “because now I know how to deal with different situations, now I know how to be prepared for different situations and that’s a big difference for me. I’m a better player because my mind is stronger and prepared for situations. It will be very good for me.”
There wasn’t much very good about last season for Lopez (5.38 ERA) and it took eight innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts against the Tigers in his last start to get the ERA that low.
In 2018, he was what the Sox thought he could be after acquiring him with pitchers Lucas Giolito and Dane Dunning from the Nationals for Adam Eaton. He pitched to a 1.78 ERA over five starts in April and finished by posting a 1.13 ERA over his final six starts. He went 7-10 that year with a 3.91 ERA over 188 innings, and he hasn’t missed a start in his last two seasons, scoring points for reliability.
But the Sox were never really sure what they were going to get when he took the mound last season. If they get what they believe he can be, look out.
“I’m really hopeful we can expect a nice little bounce back from him,” manager Rick Renteria said Tuesday. “We just take it one day at a time, but he’s looked very good, and the conversations with him have been solid. He’s carrying himself very well. He’s very calm.”
Lopez allowed 35 home runs last season, which he attributes to “hesitating” or not believing in the pitch he was about to throw. Again, stuff in his head.
It’s not the stuff in his arsenal, of which Lopez is paying mind to.
“You can see he’s focused on his mechanics, he’s focused on certain tweaks, on certain things that they want him to work on here,” said veteran left-hander Gio Gonzalez, a teammate of Lopez with the Nationals.
“When I had him with Washington he was the same way: very observant, ready to work, threw very hard.”
Perhaps Lopez can put it all together in the abbreviated 60-game season.
“I’m in a better position now,” he said.
Perhaps his time with a psychologist in the offseason and being surrounded by two new veterans in the rotation, Dallas Keuchel and Gonzalez, will help.
“Something Keuchel told me during our time in Arizona was don’t think about the hitter, don’t think about who is in the batter’s box,” Lopez said. “Just try to execute, try to keep your focus on every pitch, on my catcher. That was good advice and that’s something that’s going to help me.
“In the end, the conclusion is ‘be confident in myself.’ ’’
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