Compare and Contrast

Just like Reynaldo Lopez a day earlier, White Sox starter Dylan Cease made his spring debut yesterday.  Cease pitched an inning longer than Lopez (four vs. three); threw more strikes (40 vs. 31) on fewer total pitches (58 vs. 61); struck out more batters (five vs. three); and didn’t throw a wild pitch.  Now, that’s something to build on.

 

Why the difference?  Pick the reason(s): the opponent; the weather; focus; talent.  I’d like to think I know enough baseball to say the two right-handers are roughly the same, talent-wise.  As for mental makeup or character, tread carefully, my friends.  I doubt anyone in Dylan Cease’s family had to sell off livestock in order to get baseball equipment. 

 

 

If I recall the story correctly, when Lopez was a youngster in the Dominican Republic, his grandfather sold two cows for the money to buy his grandson a bat and ball, glove and cleats.  I’m willing to bet Lopez never got private lessons the way my daughter and countless other American kids have when playing youth sports.  Such is the world.

 

Now, consider the mechanics inherent in pitching.  I’d argue there’s more going on than with hitting.  Pitching grips; windup and follow-through; and arm angle—a problem in any of these areas can send a pitcher’s ERA into the stratosphere.  If English is your first language, odds are you’ve been communicating with one pitching coach or another since Little League.  That’s not always the case with Spanish-speakers.

 

So, Lopez had enough raw talent to draw the attention of scouts, but how good are his language-learning skills?  Frankly, mine suck, and I have a Ph.D.  Like most Latin players, Lopez has had to depend on Spanish-speaking teammates and coaches to absorb instruction.  “White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper” and “Spanish-speaking” are not words that appear in the same sentence.  Maybe assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler is fluent in Spanish.

 

If not, the Sox risk never developing Lopez the way they can Cease or Lucas Giolito or Michael Kopech.  If player(s) and coach(es) don’t speak the same language, they likely won’t be on the same page very often, if ever.  What a waste.