Chicago Sports

Jose Contreras enjoys his transition from major league pitcher to youth coach, and he is pleased with the transition and success of fellow Cuban Norge Vera in the White Sox organization.

“When he came here at 20, it was difficult to adjust to the United States,” Contreras said Sunday during a visit to Guaranteed Rate Field. “But adjusting to the United States is a lot like adjusting to being a professional baseball player. You must do it simultaneously. I think he’ll get better as he goes on and hope I can spend time with him.”

Contreras, 50, who helped pitch the Sox to the 2005 World Series title, took a special interest in Vera shortly after the Sox signed him to a $1.5 million bonus in February 2021.

Contreras watched the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Vera pitch last season in the Dominican Summer League, where he struck out 34 and allowed only nine hits in 19 innings.

Vera, 22, was part of “Project Birmingham” as a wave of prospects who were promoted last week to the Sox’s Double-A affiliate to finish the rest of the 2022 season.

Vera walked three and struck out four in 22/3 innings in his Birmingham debut Saturday against Mississippi. Vera’s pitch counts have been limited, but he’s struck out 44 while allowing 15 hits in 30 innings at Class-A Kannapolis, Winston-Salem and Birmingham.

“At first, it was hard for him, getting on the field and experiencing something new,” said Contreras, who also watches videos of Vera. “He’s doing a lot better the more he trains.”

Contreras currently works as a pitching consultant to kids in the Atlanta area, and he will participate in a clinic with members of the Sox’s Amateur City Elite (ACE) program Tuesday.

“I love it,” Contreras said of working with youths. “You can learn a lot more from kids playing baseball than professional baseball players because they teach you a lot. They have great attitudes and are ready to play.”

Success for Sheets

After batting .203 on June 24, left-handed hitter Gavin Sheets has raised his batting average to .255 — thanks to an 11-game surge in which he’s batting .484 with a .710 slugging percentage and nine RBIs.

“That’s the thing about a season, it’s a long season,” Sheets said. “I had a terrible April and May, but that doesn’t describe me as a hitter. There’s a reason you play 162 games.

“Obviously having a good month is going a long way. I feel good at the plate right now. Going to try to keep that going, but it’s one of those things where one or two bad months doesn’t describe you as a hitter.”

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The Chicago Bears might trade away a projected starter soon

The Chicago Bears’ offensive line struggled on their first drive of Saturday’s Week Three preseason game in Cleveland. After that drive, the starting offensive line manhandled the Cleveland Browns’ backups. According to an NFL insider, their performance might not have been enough to appease the front office.

The Bears’ offensive line has been the subject of much malaise for the team this offseason. The coaching staff has tried many different starting combinations and brought in veteran talent to help a primarily youthful unit.

They still might add more help to the roster. Reports have also come out during training camp that second-year offensive lineman Teven Jenkins and the Bears management in the new regime might be on rocky ground.

Ian Rapoport gave an interview Monday on NFL Now. He said that the Bears might still be looking to trade Jenkins. Even though Jenkins has been impressive during the preseason, Rapoport said to his “understanding” the Bears have continued to “engage” talks with other teams for a possible trade. He said a cut was possible but unlikely for Jenkins.

Jenkins’ play has been enough to warrant a stay with the Chicago Bears

Jenkins had an impressive performance Saturday, including making a highlight reel pancake block. There was a rumor on social media that the Bears were using that performance by Jenkins to dress him up for a trade. Jenkins hinted in comments last week that he was looking to put up good tape for the Bears or possibly the team he would be traded to. It’s incredible that this rumor is still being discussed after Saturday’s game.

It would make no sense to trade Jenkins at this point. The Chicago Bears need good offensive linemen. From what’s been shown in preseason games, Jenkins appears to be the team’s best option at right guard. He may have been drafted as a tackle, but quarterback Justin Fields’ best chance to survive this season is with Jenkins on the line—even if that is at right guard.

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The Chicago Bears should be interested in WR Darius Slayton through the trade market or a cut

The NFL pre-season has concluded, meaning all teams will have to cut down to 53 players tomorrow. The Chicago Bears, like many other teams, will have some tough decisions to make in the next 48 hours. However, one thing is certain.

Week 1 is just a few weeks away, and they are still very thin at wide receiver.

It was reported earlier today by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the New York Giants are potentially shopping wideout Darius Slayton.

Darius Slayton, a 25 year old wide receiver, is set to enter his 4th year in the league. The Auburn product exploded his rookie season when he hauled in 8 touchdowns for 740 yards. Since then, he has only caught 5 touchdowns in the last two seasons combined.

It will be hard for Slayton to find reps behind Sterling Shepard, Kenny Golladay, and Kadarius Toney. It makes sense for the Giants to shop, or possibly cut him. He does carry a 2.5 million dollar cap hit, making it a lot easier for New York to want a trade partner rather than release him.

He even told some Giants teammates he “wouldn’t be surprised” if he was cut. With that being said, the most I believe the Chicago Bears should give up would be a 6th round pick. Nothing more.

Slayton is an athletic, explosive player that could only help the Chicago Bears. His size and length could also make him an easy target for Justin Fields, and help take pressure off Darnell Mooney. With so much uncertainty at the wide receiver position, there’s no reason the Bears shouldn’t at least entertain the idea.

I think this would make the Chicago Bears offense just a bit more explosive. This preseason, we surely saw flashes of what Justin Fields can be. However, we all know these games don’t count. The addition of a player like Slayton would give Fields another potential weapon in the deep game.

Who knows what Slayton can do with a decent quarterback as well? Daniel Jones hasn’t exactly lit the world up his first three years. His numbers keep declining, and it looks like this year could be his last chance in New York. This could be a new opportunity for Darius, and we’ve seen what certain wide receivers can do when given a fresh start.

I believe this kid has some big upside. With catches like the one showed above, he showed in his rookie season he can be a difference maker.

Obviously, it would be preferred that the Bears sign him rather than give up a late pick. It’s likely any team interested will wait and see if the young wide receiver is cut before making a deal.

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A man is accused of shooting into a West Town restaurant where his ex-girlfriend worked, fatally striking a patron sitting at the bar.

Charlie Moreno, 41, fired through the window of Curramba Colombian Restaurant Bar, 2701 W. Division St around 9:20 p.m. Friday, police said. He had once dated a woman, 27, who started working at the restaurant about a month ago.

During their eight-month relationship, Moreno was physically abusive to the woman “on a daily basis,” prosecutors said in court Monday. There were at least two police reports filed during the relationship, they said.

The relationship ended in June and Moreno began to stalk the woman at her new job at the restaurant, prosecutors said. He texted the woman that he was going to kill her and “shoot her at work,” they said.

Three days before the shooting, the woman was riding in the backseat of a car, on her way to the restaurant, when Moreno approached and fired a gun into the car, prosecutors said. No one was wounded.

The night of the fatal attack, the woman was working at the bar of the restaurant and stepped out to have a cigarette when she saw Moreno drive up and begin to fire, prosecutors said.

One of the shots entered the restaurant and struck a man, 50, who was taken to Stroger Hospital and pronounced dead, police said.

About 30 minutes later, Moreno’s car was involved in a traffic crash 12 blocks from the scene. Moreno attempted to flee but was eventually taken into custody.

Moreno was charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, police said.

Moreno has a “significant” criminal background, according to prosecutors.

At the time of the Friday shooting, he was on parole for aggravated battery with a firearm, for which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In that case, Moreno shot a man twice in the chest and once in the face after trying to rob him, prosecutors said.

Moreno was convicted of the same charge in 2003 and sentenced to six years. In that case, he was arguing with a person using a pay phone, then shot the person in the leg and “callously walked away,” prosecutors said.

A judge Monday ordered Moreno to be held without bond.

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They survived a seven-game losing streak and the loss of their top slugger for more than three-fourths of the season.

But that’s where the comparisons end between the 2005 world champion White Sox and the 2022 team that has failed miserably to play up to expectations after two consecutive playoff appearances.

“The best thing they can do is maintain chemistry, stick together, and that’s the best way they can accomplish and get through August and September despite a difficult season,” said former pitcher Jose Contreras, a member of the 2005 Sox.

Contreras, now a team ambassador, was one of several members from the 2005 team scheduled to participate Monday in two charity golf tournaments Monday and reminisced about the intangibles that kept them resilient through the tough times the 2022 team has experienced.

“Just the camaraderie we had in the clubhouse, and everybody getting along so well,” said third baseman Joe Crede, known for his clutch hitting in the playoffs. “Not all the time, but we had a good mix of players who held players accountable, and I think that’s huge within the clubhouse.

“If you were struggling, you always had a guy to go to on certain aspects of your game, whether it was offense or defense. You didn’t have to really rely on the coaches all the time, (but) they were always there for us.”

The current Sox entered Monday with a five-game deficit in the AL Central with 34 games left, making their 21-15 record in one-run game seem like an anomaly due to the array of late-inning setbacks.

“It’s a tough game, it’s a long season, and you can’t get too caught up in that,” said pitcher Jon Garland, sporting a beard and living in his native Southern California.

“If you get caught up in (thinking), ‘we need to win five straight, six straight, 10 straight (games), we need to jump back in this’ … you’re not going to get it.”

Unlike the 2022 team, Garland (who won a career-high 18 games) and Crede recalled there weren’t great expectations for the 2005 team, which was retooled in the winter but blended quickly. Those White Sox transformed into a more well-rounded squad with the acquisition of leadoff batter Scott Podsednik and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi. They also added a seasoned power hitter in free agent Jermaine Dye, with free agents Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez and Dustin Hermanson fortifying the rotation and bullpen, respectively.

“It’s a hard game when you bring so many personalities together,” Garland said. “And in sports, to me, a lot comes to trust. When you trust the guy next to you, you’re going to play better, and he’s going to play better. When you bring so many guys from the outside, free agents, it’s hard to build that.”

Garland added that the 2005 team blended well, with a few exceptions. “And when you get a group of guys that click like we did, we’d get to the field early just to play cards or hang out,” Garland said. “When that happens, good things happen on the field.”

The 2005 team, with plenty of newcomers, had the benefit of a normal six weeks of spring training to prepare for the season. They started 27-9 and built a 15-game lead that provided a handy cushion when they lost seven consecutive games in August and had their lead shrink to 11/2 games with 10 games left.

“I think the relationship that we built with everybody over the course of the season, nobody ever panicked,” Garland said. “Nobody was ever (thinking) like, ‘oh, we’re losing the ship here.’ “

They also won despite Hall of Fame slugger Frank Thomas playingonly 34 games because of a fracture of his surgically repaired left foot. Similarly, current Sox Eloy Jim?nez, Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson and Yasmani Grandal have played in less than two-thirds of their games this season because of injuries.

Because of injuries, doubleheaders and rescheduled games stemming from postponements, the Sox have used 10 starting pitchers this season — four more than they used in 2005.

“I mean, golly, they carried us a long way,” Crede said.

ON DECK

ROYALS AT WHITE SOX

Tuesday: RHP Brady Singer (7-4, 3.15) vs. RHP Lucas Giolito (10-7, 5.14), 7:10 p.m., NBC Sports Chicago, ESPN 1000-AM

Wednesday: LHP Kris Bubic (2-9, 5.62) vs. RHP Lance Lynn (3-5, 5.00), 7:10 p.m., NBC Chicago, ESPN 1000-AM

Thursday: TBA vs. RHP Johnny Cueto (6-6, 2.98), 1:10 p.m., NBC Chicago, ESPN 1000-AM

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The White Sox have placed third baseman Yoan Moncada on a 10-day injured list in a series of roster moves made last Friday.

Yoan Moncada suffered a left hamstring strain during Thursday’s game against the Orioles, which is the latest injury in a string of injuries that he has had this season. The White Sox also placed right-hander Lance Lynn on a bereavement list, took infielder Leury Garcia off the injured list, and recalled right-hander Davis Martin.

Moncada has a .197 batting average with a .581 over 80 games. He’s had 7 home runs, and more than three times as many strikeouts as walks during the games this season. Garcia has been selected to take Moncada’s slot at third base. Moncada also has a very low Wins Above Replacement rating, at 0.5, according to rating calculations at Baseball Reference.

Moncada is set to been the injured list for at least a week and a half, and it still remains unclear on when the White Sox expect him to return. Others players currently on the White Sox’s injured list include Tim Anderson, Aaron Bummer, Garrett Crochet, Yasmani Grandal, and Michael Kopech.

The White Sox have been having a rough season so far, with a minus-37 run differential. Their season ratings and performance is close to the ratings of the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and Arizona Diamondbacks.

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The Bears are maneuvering to get their roster down to 53 players by Tuesday at 3 p.m. and got started by cutting four players Sunday and Monday.

The team waived offensive lineman Jean Delance with a non-football illness designation Sunday, then waived safety Jon Alexander, offensive lineman Corey Dublin and wide receiver Kevin Shaa on Monday to bring them down to 75 players.

Here’s a live tracker of who is leaving:OFFENSEOL Jean DelanceOL Corey DublinWR Kevin Shaa

DEFENSES Jon Alexander

Once the Bears finalize their roster Tuesday, it won’t actually be final. It’s a virtual certainty that they’ll pick up a few players cut by other teams. The most likely positions for that would on the offensive line and at cornerback and wide receiver.

The Bears also must keep injured wide receivers Byron Pringle and N’Keal Harry on the active roster Tuesday, but can put them on injured reserve after that if needed.

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Top-ranked Mount Carmel delivered on Friday, taking down St. Rita with ease in the 100th matchup between the South Side rivals.

Caravan quarterback Blainey Dowling’s maturation was the story of the game. He’s bigger and stronger this season and his accuracy was impeccable. Dowling was 19-for-21 passing for 318 yards and five touchdowns. He connected with seven different receivers.

One player that seems to get lost in the hype around all of Mount Carmel’s future college players is wide receiver Denny Furlong. Last season it was Furlong’s nine-yard touchdown run on that untimed down in overtime that beat Batavia in the second round of the Class 7A state playoffs.

It was a play designed for Furlong to take the handoff and pass to Damarion Arrington. Furlong made the split-second decision to run instead and it gave the Caravan a magical victory.

Furlong (5-11, 185 pounds) was Mount Carmel’s leading receiver last season with 30 receptions for 540 yards and five touchdowns. He was a force in Week 1 against St. Rita, finishing with three catches for 97 yards. His 54-yard touchdown reception was the standout play of the game.

“He’s a kid that is under-recruited,” Caravan coach Jordan Lynch said. “That kid can play FCS Division I football. He’s a heck of a player that comes to work every single day.”

Freshman phenom

The week before the season Bolingbrook coach John Ivlow wasn’t sure which of his talented quarterbacks would start. Ivlow thought having two quarterbacks with “cannons” was a strength of the team and not an issue.

Freshman Jonas Williams got the job. And he delivered a spectacular debut in Week 1, leading the Raiders to a 49-12 win against Minooka, throwing for more than 400 yards and seven touchdowns.

Williams has two standout receivers to target in I’Marion Stewart and Kyan Berry-Johnson. Expect the Raiders’ offense to be one of the area’s most impressive units this season.

Bolingbrook will face Simeon at Gately on Saturday.

Young Mustangs debut

Morgan Park opened on Friday against Richards and wasn’t part of the three-game slate at Gately Stadium, which left them a big out of the spotlight in Week 1.

The Mustangs had the most impressive win of any Public League team in Week 1 though, knocking off Richards 30-2 at Gately. The Bulldogs advanced to the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs last season.

Morgan Park’s young stars all sparkled. Junior Tysean Griffin had nine carries for 97 yards and sophomore quarterback Marcus Thaxton was 13-for-24 passing for 172 yards and three touchdowns.

Jovan Clark, a highly-touted sophomore, was a force at linebacker. The Mustangs are the youngest of the elite Public League football teams but could wind up having the highest ceiling.

New factor in the Fox Valley

Cary-Grove and Prairie Ridge have dominated the Fox Valley and the local scene in Class 6A for several years. The conference has been very solid overall, with Huntley featuring regularly in the Super 25 as well.

Late last season another Fox Valley team started opening eyes. Jacobs finished 8-4 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Class 7A state playoffs where it lost a tough game to Prospect.

The Golden Eagles opened the season in the preseason Super 25. They have a star in senior Grant Stec (6-6, 220 pounds). The tight end has offers from Cincinnati, Florida, Michigan State, Penn State, Syracuse, Tennessee, Wisconsin and seven other Power Five schools.

Jacobs knocked off Crystal Lake South 41-31 in Week 1 and racked up nearly 400 rushing yards, led by senior Antonio Brown with 18 carries for 163 yards.

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From the day the Bears introduced him as the 17th head coach in franchise history, Matt Eberflus has been talking about holding players to standards. The whole basis of his H.I.T.S. philosophy is using it as quality control to make sure everyone on the field is meeting the expectation every moment.

But what about Eberflus?

There’s no H.I.T.S. application for a coach, but he will no doubt be under evaluation as soon as the Bears kick off their season next weekend against the 49ers. Eberflus was hired to run the whole team and has given defensive coordinator Alan Williams autonomy, but he still must demonstrate the defensive expertise that helped get him this job.

When teams hire an offensive genius or quarterback whisperer, they demand that coach enliven the offense and fix the quarterback. Eberflus’ predecessor, Matt Nagy, did neither and got fired.

Eberflus is supposed to be an exceptional defensive mind even among a league full of them, so there will be no excuses about limited personnel even in a rebuilding year. He’ll insist that this roster as it stands play to his standards, but it’s his responsibility to ensure that it does.

It’s no excuse that he’s going to start at least two rookies in second-round cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker. Eberflus made it work with the Colts in 2018 when Shaquille Leonard was a rookie and he had young, first-time starters in safety Kenny Moore and middle linebacker Anthony Walker.

It’s also no excuse that the roster needed some deconstruction, leading to the departure of Khalil Mack and the lingering possibility of trading Robert Quinn for draft picks.

Shouldn’t be a problem for a defensive mastermind. It wouldn’t have required anything of Eberflus to get a big season out of Mack. He can coach himself at this point. Let’s see Eberflus develop Mack’s former understudy, Trevis Gipson, into a fearsome pass rusher.

With general manager Ryan Poles prioritizing the future over this season, the Bears filled in their defense with budget friendly players like linebackers Nick Morrow (one year, $2.5 million), Matt Adams (one year, $1 million) and Joe Thomas (one year, $1 million), as well as defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad (essentially one year, $3.5 million).

Their biggest splurge was dropping $40.5 million over three years for defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi, but that deal fell through on a failed physical. The Bears shifted to Justin Jones for just $12 million over two years.

The returning defenders they kept, particularly the pricier ones, have their own question marks, and again, Eberflus is charged with turning those into rock-solid answers.

Will linebacker Roquan Smith be ready to play after missing so much time because of his contract dispute? Eberflus said he’ll be fine.

Will cornerback Jaylon Johnson continue his progression toward stardom, and can Kindle Vildor be his running mate? Will Quinn play like he did last season (18.5 sacks) or the season before (two)? Which version of safety Eddie Jackson will we see?

Answering those questions is tricky, but an elite coach should be able to do it.

The last defensive coordinator, Sean Desai, was good. Eberflus is supposed to be great. His Colts defense was second in takeaways and 10th in points allowed from 2018 through ’21. He was hired to replicate that here, regardless of the personnel.

And since he’s overseeing the entire operation, he knows as well as anyone that the defense will have a significant impact on quarterback Justin Fields — the most important person in the organization.

Fields was constantly playing from behind last season and didn’t have the benefit of takeaways setting him up with short fields. Neither did Andy Dalton, Nick Foles or Mitch Trubisky before him. Changing those parts of the equation would almost automatically make him better.

It’s a lot to ask of Eberflus, but that’s the job. If he can deliver on those imperatives amid the rebuild this season, that’ll give the Bears a lot of confidence in his future.

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The Chicago Bears looked disciplined in the preseason

The Chicago Bears finished their preseason on a positive note Saturday. They escaped Cleveland with a 21-20 win to cap off an undefeated preseason. Undefeated preseasons don’t mean much (as Mike Martz would tell any football fan about the 2008 Detroit Lions), but the subtle way the Bears are playing is impressive.

Former head coach Matt Nagy didn’t seem to control his locker room well when he was with the Bears. The team looked unprepared for games and undisciplined during them. First-year head coach Matt Eberflus has said he emphasizes details and discipline in his system. One area of measurement already looks better.

The Bears didn’t commit a lot of penalties in their three preseason games. They had 13 penalties throughout all of the preseason. So about four penalties per game. The total number of penalty yards for the Bears was 118, which is 39.33 yards per preseason game on average.

Contrast that to last season. The Chicago Bears averaged 6.2 penalties a game last season and 5.7 in 2020.  In 2021, the Bears averaged 53.8 penalty yards per game. They were ranked 23rd for the most penalties and 22nd for the most penalty yards last season.

The Chicago Bears’ preseason numbers would put them in elite territory

By comparing the Bears’ preseason penalty statistics to last year’s numbers, the Bears would project themselves to be one of the least penalized teams in the NFL this season. The Bears’ preseason numbers in 2022 were at 4.3 penalties per game. In the 2021 regular season, the Green Bay Packers were the least penalized team at 4.1, the Los Angeles Rams at 4.3, and the Cincinnati Bengals at 4.4 per game.

The Bears’ penalty yards per game would put them fourth, right behind where the Packers were last season at 39.1 penalty yards per game. The New York Giants would be right behind them as they were just under 40 yards per game.

The Giants were an outlier of the teams mentioned in this post, as the other teams had fantastic seasons and made the playoffs. The Rams and Bengals made the Super Bowl. It doesn’t necessarily mean that because the Bears curb their appetite for penalties, they will be a playoff team this year.

However, not committing penalties will swing close games in their favor. Regardless of whether or not they can make the playoffs this season, if Eberflus can continue to build a strong foundation in the locker room where the team buys into fundamentals, the Chicago Bears will have a better chance of future success when they add more talent. Not committing stupid penalties and giving the opposition more turf is what championship-caliber teams do.

ESPN gave the Bears a hard time on prime time tv when the Bears played the Seattle Seahawks in Week Two of the preseason. But they applauded that the Chicago Bears looked more fundamentally sound than their opponent. Records in the preseason don’t matter, but praising a team for their discipline is about the highest praise Eberflus and a group buying into his system can get before the season.

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