Reynaldo López has been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte, meaning the battle for the fifth starter has job has come to an abrupt end. Carlos Rodón will now claim the final spot in the rotation after a stellar spring training. The southpaw has posted a 0.00 ERA in nine innings of work. Not only has Rodón yet to allow a run over the corse of three appearances, he has not walked a single batter and has struck out ten.

Meanwhile Reynaldo López has been floundering to the tune of a 9.00 ERA in eleven innings pitched. López had an uphill climb to claim the final spot in the rotation. Rodón is guaranteed $3 million dollars this season, which makes optioning him cost ineffective. López still has options remaining but the news that he was being demoted still came as somewhat of a shock. He could have carved out a role as a long reliever out of the bullpen. The White Sox have no true long man, so Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet would assume the position. So what now for Reynaldo López?

How did we get here?

Inconsistency has plagued López’s career. López was acquired from the Nationals in a blockbuster trade with the hopes that he would develop into an ace alongside Lucas Giolito. After getting his feet wet in the majors he flourished into the White Sox best pitcher in 2018. He finished the year with a sub four 3.91 ERA. Then he came crashing down to earth. In the two seasons since he has a combined 5.52 ERA and led the league in earned runs in 2019.

During one outing, then manager Rick Renteria had to go the mound and remind Lopez that he was pitching because of the lack of enthusiasm and passion he displayed on the mound. López was jettisoned from the rotation in 2020 following some ugly outings. He made some spot starts near the end of the year.

The White Sox hoped that the hiring of Ethan Katz will help tap into López’s potential. The returns in spring training have not reflected much progress to this point, but the White Sox remain optimistic.

Will we see López in a Sox uniform again?

Being optioned to Charlotte does not completely close the door on López’s tenure with the White Sox. Carlos Rodón has a long injury history. At his point in his career he has been slapped with the label “injury prone”. If Rodón goes down again we may see López called back up to occupy that spot. If disaster strikes and Dylan Cease continues to struggle in the majors he could also swap spots with him.

In the meantime Lopez can be classified as additional depth in the system. He joins the likes of Jimmy Lambert, Jonathan Stiever and Tyler Johnson. López has the stuff to be a good major league pitcher. A season in the minors could be a great opportunity for López to hone his craft. He has already seen some positive results under pitching coach Ethan Katz. He credited Katz with a new arm action that he believes will net him better results.

“With the new arm action, all my pitches are better,” Lopez said. “They’re going to have better action, more life, especially my fastball. I’ve been more consistent with it. But overall, all my pitches are going to be better.”

With him gone, a roster spot is now open for an extra position player such as Danny Mendick, Billy Hamilton or an extra catcher to make the roster.