Cooper bubbling over with excitement as White Sox rebuild from ground up
When Don Cooper took over as the Chicago White Sox's pitching coach in 2002, Reynaldo Lopez was 8 years old.
Still on the job, Cooper is not only looking forward to watching Lopez make his Sox debut Friday night, he is jazzed about the early stages of a massive rebuild.
"Here is what I am excited about," the 61-year-old Cooper said. "With all the guys we've traded, starting with Chris Sale, and all the people we've acquired, and there are more coming up, with the draft, I'm excited about the names and the talent I hear that we're accruing. Somewhere down the road, we're going to be back. Right now, with the pitching staff, it's opportunities."
Lopez is the first high-end prospect to join the White Sox's rotation, and former Class AAA Charlotte teammate Lucas Giolito is due to arrive before season's end.
Next year and beyond, Cooper can't wait to coach up young arms like Michael Kopech, Alec Hansen, Dylan Cease, Dane Dunning and Spencer Adams.
"I want to see this whole thing through," said Cooper, who is in his 29th season in the Sox's organization. "The excitement has taken over for me about what the what the future may hold. I've thought a little bit about next year's spring training. (Bullpen coach Curt Hasler) and I today are starting to compile files on each guy. What are we talking about? What are we working on? What's first, second, third, fourth on his list to do things?"
Through his long run as White Sox pitching coach, Cooper has worked with elite starting pitchers like Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras, Freddy Garcia, Sale and Jose Quintana.
He still relishes the challenge of molding a young arm into an effective major-league starter.
"It's always been fun to be part of a guy's first day in the big leagues, first win in the big leagues, first start in a White Sox uniform," Cooper said. "When you get a front-row seat to watch people realize their dreams, that is a perk of the job. Try to put the whole picture together because we want the guy to have the career he's been looking for.
"Nothing pleases us more than people succeeding. Everybody had a dream to get here. so when they first arrive they're reaching a dream. But in that dream, they weren't getting sent out two nights later. So we've got to come up with … how do we get the most out of each guy?"
Major-league coaches typically focus all of their attention on major-league players, but this year is different for the Sox.
"We've got the reports coming in every day and we know what Reynaldo Lopez is doing," Cooper said. "We know what (Bernando) Flores is doing down in high A (Winston-Salem). We know what (Jimmy) Lambert's doing down there. We know about what Cease is doing. I can't wait to see all these guys live and in person and watch them throw. That's what we do for a living, we watch guys. I watch guys pitch, whether it be sidelines or games.
"Then we go the next day and we're looking at every single pitch all over again. Sometimes that's hard. When you have a real tough game it's like watching a bad movie twice, but you've got to watch it."
Scouting report
White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field
TV: WGN Friday; Comcast SportsNet Saturday and Sunday
Radio: WLS 890-AM
Pitching matchups: The Sox's Reynaldo Lopez (0-0) vs. Danny Duffy (7-7) Friday at 7:10 p.m.; James Shields (2-4) vs. Ian Kennedy (4-8) Saturday at 6:10 p.m.; Derek Holland (6-11) vs. Jason Vargas (13-6) vs. LHP Derek Holland (6-11, 5.25)
At a glance: Lopez makes his White Sox debut in the series opener after going 6-7 with a 3.79 ERA at Class AAA Charlotte. The 23-year-old righty ranked third in the International League with 131 strikeouts. In 11 games (6 starts) with the Nationals last season, Lopez was 5-3 with a 4.91 ERA. In the thick of the wild-card chase, the Royals are 5-5 vs. the Sox this season. The White Sox swept a three-game home series vs. K.C. in late April.
Next: Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, Tuesday-Wednesday
- Scot Gregor