Lost in translation: Nova helping Chicago White Sox rotation mate Lopez speak English

It was an unusual scene in the Chicago White Sox's postgame clubhouse Wednesday night.

Before Reynaldo Lopez took questions from the media following his successful start against the Marlins at Guaranteed Rate Field, he pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket, peeled off five $20s and handed them to locker neighbor Ivan Nova.

Before the Sox played the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night, Nova provided some background.

"I told him, 'You need to speak English,' " Nova said. "It's not that he doesn't speak English. He does, but he's kind of shy a little bit. So we made a little bet.

"I'm not going to say the amount. But I gave him two options: 'I'm going to give you a certain amount of money if you do the interviews in English after the games, and you're going to give me 100 bucks if you don't do it.' "

After Lopez allowed 2 runs over 8 innings to go with 10 strikeouts in the White Sox's 2-0 loss to Miami, he answered questions through team translator Billy Russo.

Nova started the wager before Lopez's July 19 start at Tampa Bay.

"The game in Tampa, he pitched a great game," Nova said. "I told him, 'No matter if it's a good game or bad game, you've got to do it in English.' So he pitched a good game in Tampa and I was like waiting for the guys to do the interview and I was right next to him and he was like, 'There's your hundred dollars.'

"I said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'I'm not going to do it, there's a lot of people here.'

"I think it's more he's afraid of the media. It's not like he doesn't speak the language. I told him, 'You're only going to get better if you try. If you don't try you're never going to get better.' So (Wednesday) was the same thing."

Nova jokingly said he's going to ask White Sox manager Rick Renteria to start Lopez every two days "so I can get more money."

In all seriousness, the veteran starter is doing everything he can to help Lopez, who is in his second full season in the majors.

"As a pitcher, he's got way better stuff than what I have," Nova said. ""He jokes a lot, he plays a lot, but he listens. That's the good thing. We have a really good relationship. He goes out there and works on his bullpen. A lot of time I make sure he works in the weight room. He's a hard worker, but we all have days that we feel like, 'I don't want to do this.'

"We all have those days, and it's good to have somebody that can push you. He's putting everything together right now, and he's having fun. That's a good thing."

Nova said speaking English will bring Lopez even more joy.

"It's good to go out there and have a conversation like I do with you guys (media) and know what you guys are talking about," Nova said. "And there a lot of other different things. If you need to go to the doctor, hopefully it never happens, and you don't understand, you need somebody that can translate.

"A lot of times in baseball, I see a guy translating, saying stuff the person didn't say. Like if I want to say something, they put it the other way. It sounds good, it's good sometimes, but it's not what you feel. I'm just trying to help the guy. I'm just trying to help him get better in any possible way I can help him."

Lopez, who like Nova is from the Dominican Republic, appreciates all the help he's been getting.

"During the games, if something goes wrong, Ivan is in dugout telling me, 'Hey, keep doing your job. Keep doing your thing. Keep believing in your stuff,'" Lopez said through Russo.

Nova is willing, and able, to help Lopez, just like CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera helped him when he was breaking into the majors with the Yankees.

He has drawn a line, though.

"I told him one time, 'I'm going to block you because I don't want you to text me on my off-days. I have enough with you at the ballpark, so the off-day is the off-day,' " Nova said. "So he texted me one day and I see the message and I didn't answer. The next day he said, 'Why didn't you reply to my message?' 'Because I don't want to.' He said, 'Yeah, but you can put at least OK.'

"So I grabbed my phone and I typed in OK and sent it to him. 'Do you feel good now?' "