White Sox RHP Reynaldo Lopez staying positive despite nonexistent run support

OAKLAND — If it weren’t for hard luck, Reynaldo Lopez wouldn’t have any.

Lopez, the impressive 24-year-old White Sox starting pitcher, threw six innings of one-run ball in his first start of the season. He gave up zero earned runs over seven innings in his second outing. And in the opener of this series against the Athletics, he went another six strong innings, allowing two runs while striking out 10.

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Total runs scored by the Sox in those three games: three. Total scored while Lopez was in the game: one.

It’s no wonder the Sox’ best pitcher — by far — to this point has a record of 0-2. Frustrating? One would assume so, though Lopez is trying to keep the big picture at the front of his mind.

“I think I’ve done a very good job,” he said through an interpreter. “I’ve tried to go deep into games, tried to complete six, seven innings and to keep the team in the game. At this point, I think I’m happy with my [performance].”

Lopez is receiving the second-least run support in the American League, trailing only the Tigers’ Matthew Boyd. If ever there were a time for a player to worry about “controlling what he can control,” to borrow manager Rick Renteria’s favorite cliché, this is it.

“At some point, we’ll start to turn around the offensive side and give him some runs,” Renteria said.

Meanwhile, Lopez is establishing himself as a key piece of the Sox rebuild. Against the A’s, he used his slider and changeup to set up hitters and his fastball to put them away. Also the owner of a decent curveball, Lopez is a more refined pitcher than the one the Sox acquired from the Nationals in the Adam Eaton trade before the 2017 season.

Like all the team’s young players, Lopez is auditioning for a long-term role in a promising Sox future. He’s faring better than most.

“I think right now my focus is just on doing my job,” he said. “I’m not trying to do too much or impress or show them what I’m capable of, because I think that they [already] know. And I know what I need to do.”

That’s gotta hurt

Outfielder Ryan Cordell, who hit .317 in the spring and was in the mix to make the big-league club as a bench player, got the worst of a collision with the center-field wall in Monday’s Class AAA Charlotte game. The 26-year-old is expected to miss a minimum of eight weeks after fracturing his right clavicle. He will not require surgery.

Man on fire

Sox prospect Micker Adolfo, off to a sizzling .370/.420/.609 start at the plate for Class A Winston-Salem, was named the Carolina League’s player of the week. Adolfo is strictly DHing this season after spraining a ligament in his right (throwing) elbow in the spring. His throwing arm was rated as the best in the organization by Baseball America.