Don Cooper already is starting to pull together his spring training plans, compiling schedules and work groups for Feb. 15, when White Sox pitchers report.
The Sox signed three new pitchers and traded two in the last month, so Cooper will be presented with new faces and new obstacles when he begins his 12th full season as Sox pitching coach. He took some time to talk about them Friday.
"We're trying to get ourselves back together," said Cooper, who is back on his feet and helping pitchers after having surgery for diverticulitis in October. "We have some real challenges ahead. I look at every pitcher we have as a challenge. Every pitcher we have is trying to get to the next level, whether it's Chris Sale or Erik Johnson or Scott Downs at 37 (years old)."
One of the bigger questions Cooper and the Sox will face in spring training surfaced recently when they traded closer Addison Reed to the Diamondbacks for third base prospect Matt Davidson.
Cooper seemed confident the Sox will be able to pinpoint a replacement for Reed, who had 40 saves in 48 opportunities in 2013. Cooper pointed to Reed and former Sox pitcher Sergio Santos as proof that the club can develop a closer from the tools they have.
Among the top candidates Cooper listed were Nate Jones and recently re-signed Matt Lindstrom. But Cooper also said Ronald Belisario, the former Dodgers pitcher who was signed as a free agent this month, and prospect Daniel Webb could fill the role.
"We have guys we feel can get the last out for us," Cooper said. "I've always been a believer of this — and if you look at the closers we've had since 2005 — we'll find the guys. They'll show you, through how they're throwing the ball and what they're doing, when they need to pitch.
"The last three outs are obviously very important, but you have to be mentally and physically strong in any of the roles at the big league level to get anybody out any time. We have options with guys."
Lindstrom spent some time as a closer for the Marlins and the Astros earlier in his career. Jones, who has a fastball that can hit 100 mph, is also a logical candidate, and Cooper said he has seen the 27-year-old improve every year. Jones has gone 12-5 with a 3.31 ERA and 154 strikeouts in two major league seasons with the Sox.
"Everybody in the American League knows who he is and what he possesses," Cooper said. "Now it's just the consistency of those pitches. Nate has plenty of physical (tools) to get people out. Now we have to maximize that physical (ability) by commanding it more and more and throwing to more and more desired locations. That's a process with everybody."
Cooper said he has studied video on newcomers Belisario, Downs and Felipe Paulino. He said Belisario is a "sinkerball guy" whose forte is inducing ground balls and who has a 95 mph fastball.
Paulino, who was signed as a free agent from the Royals, spent 2013 recovering from surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. But Cooper said he could be penciled in as one of the Sox starters as spring training gets underway. The Sox will need to settle on a new starter after trading left-hander Hector Santiago to the Angels earlier this month.
"I'm hearing that (Paulino) is healthy and he's going to be uninhibited coming into spring training," Cooper said.
As for Reed and Santiago, Cooper said it is hard letting go players he helped develop, but he tries to move his focus to the newcomers.
"I've been doing this for a bit now, and you realize people go and people leave," Cooper said. "In their case, I feel very good the Chicago White Sox have given (Reed and Santiago) the very best that we had to offer them and now their careers are well on their way.
"It's unfortunate you lose people, but other people get opportunities, and that's where my focus goes — on those guys."
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