Chicago Sports

NEW YORK – Cubs right-hander Marcus Stroman strode through the rain on Wednesday after his start was postponed in Baltimore. He played catch in the outfield and then headed into the bullpen for a light side session.

The Cubs revealed on Friday that Stroman felt shoulder discomfort during that session. They placed Stroman on the 15-day injured list Friday with right shoulder inflammation, retroactive to Tuesday, in a surge of roster moves.

“I don’t think he’s felt right since coming back from COVID to be honest,” Ross said.

Stroman’s made four starts since then, each better than the last until he allowed nine runs in four innings against the Cardinals last week.

“When you’ve got bumps and bruises, you’re not at 100 percent, it affects everybody’s performance,” Ross said when asked if he thought Stroman’s shoulder injury affected him in his last start.

Ross said he hopes Stroman will only need a minimum IL stint.

The Cubs rotation is working through a rash of injuries. Lefty Wade Miley, who the Cubs activated from the 15-day IL (left shoulder strain) to start on Friday, left the game with left shoulder soreness. He threw three scoreless innings.

Right-hander Kyle Hendricks hasn’t started since June 1, and though he insisted nothing specific was physically bothering him, Ross said Friday that Hendricks was “dealing with some stuff.”He threw a bullpen Friday.

“He’ll pitch in the near future,” Ross said.

Cubs lefty Drew Smyly remains on the 15-day IL with a right oblique strain.

The Cubs have yet to announce their starter for Sunday.

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NEW YORK – The Cubs made a flurry of roster moves Friday afternoon, notably designating outfielder Clint Frazier for assignment.

“We haven’t been able to give him real opportunities to watch him succeed right now,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “Some tough decisions. We think a lot of Clint and his abilities.”

The move freed up the 40-man roster spot the Cubs needed to reinstate reliever Chris Martin from the restricted list – Martin started on the bereavement list and was transferred when he reached the seven-day maximum.

“He was upset,” Ross said when asked how Frazier took the news. “Emotional would be a good word. I think he likes it here a lot. I think he believes in his baseball skills, which we do, too. It’s just one of those really tough decisions we have to make sometimes, which stink.”

Frazier, who the Cubs signed this winter, has only had 45 plate appearances this season. He struggled at the plate to start the season and then had appendicitis, which sidelined him for over a month. When Frazier returned, it was in a right-field platoon with Jason Heyward.

The other two outfield spots were solidified, with left fielder Ian Happ and rookie center fielder Christopher Morel putting together strong all-around seasons.

”I’ve been feeling really good at the plate,” Frazier told the Sun-Times this week. ”I’m really hoping I can get some more at-bats here soon because I want to play.”

Case in point, Frazier went 5-for-16 at the plate after coming back from appendicitis, largely serving as a pinch hitter.

“He’s worked his tail off and did nothing but be a great teammate here,” Ross said. “All the players like him, the coaches like him a lot. … We hope we get to keep him. But I don’t know if that’s going to be a possibility or not.”

Asked if the organization still had a relationship with Frazier that would make him want to stay if he happened to clear waivers, Ross said he’d hope so.

“I think he also has some life decisions that he wants to look at,” Ross said.

The Cubs also activated lefty Wade Miley (left shoulder strain), catcher Yan Gomes (left oblique strain) and infielder Jonathan Villar (mouth injury) off the injured list.

In corresponding moves, they placed right-hander Marcus Stroman (right shoulder inflammation) on the 15-day IL and optioned reliever Michael Rucker and reliever Alfonso Rivas to Triple-A.

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Brother Rice arrived at the Illinois High School Association’s Class 4A state baseball finals in Joliet as a heavy favorite. The Crusaders impressed early in the season at national events, beating two highly-touted teams from Florida, IMG and Montverde.

The win against IMG ended with Jack Lausch’s walk-off home run in the ninth inning. Lausch, the Sun-Times Football Player of the Year, has signed with Northwestern as a quarterback but is also one of the state’s top prospects in the MLB Draft.

Friday’s state semifinal game against Edwardsville at Duly Health and Care Field opened with another Lausch highlight. Tigers leadoff hitter Grant Huebner ripped a ball deep to center field that would have cleared the fence at any high school park.

Lausch says he knew he had it all along. He was likely alone in that opinion. But he pulled it off, catching the ball in a full-on sprint with his back to the plate, Willie Mays-style.

“[Left fielder Nick Daugherty] did a great job of talking to me,” Lausch said. “He helped me out a lot. We actually have kind of been practicing that a bit.”

That first moment wound up being the highlight of the game for the Crusaders. Edwardsville’s big bats came through in the middle innings and the Tigers knocked off Brother Rice 7-4.

Edwardsville will face the winner of the McHenry-Mundelein semifinal in the championship game on Saturday.

“We’ve faced really good teams,” Edwardsville coach Tim Funkhouser said. “We’ve beaten the state champion in Missouri. Our guys have been in that setting and they expect themselves to do well. That’s why they were able to calm their nerves.

Edwardsville has been a regular at the baseball state finals over the years. The Tigers won titles in 2019, 1998, and 1990 and have made 16 overall appearances. But Brother Rice entered the game ranked 14th in the country by MaxPreps, one of just three teams in the midwest ranked in the top 25.

“There’s no doubt about Brother Rice,” Funkhouser said. “They are a phenomenal team and their coaches do a great job. We’re happy to come out on top today.”

Indiana recruit Dylan Warda started for the Crusaders (35-6). He pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs (four earned), five hits, struck out six, and walked four.

The walks and some defensive miscues were the difference in the game. The Tigers pride themselves on their discipline at the plate.

“If you don’t throw strikes as much as you would like we can expose that,” Funkhouser said. “Our guys are really patient. It’s hard to do it in this setting but our guys did a great job.”

Lausch came into pitch in the fifth and shut Edwardsville (33-4) down for the final two innings.

The Crusaders had runners on base in the fourth and fifth inning but were shut down by a pair of impressive Edwardsville double plays.

“Those are huge,” Lausch said. “Throughout the playoffs we had a few of those ourselves. They are inning killers.”

The Tigers took the lead on a trick play steal of home in the third inning. They had runners on first and third. The runner leading off at first was the decoy. He pretended to fall down while the runner at third, Caeleb Copeland, raced for home.

“That play is good for that situation,” McBride said. “We had a lefty on the mound and we were ready for it. [Warda] had a curveball grip. The guy took off and he didn’t change his grip in time and we didn’t make the play. We knew it was coming but they out-executed us.”

Lausch ended up falling short in the state semifinals in football and baseball. But along the way, he provided more highlight moments in two major sports than any player in recent memory. After the loss one of his teammates pointed out that you remember the special moments your entire life while trophies just collect dust.

Maybe that’s why Lausch wasn’t in tears after the game. He held his head high and looked at the positive.

“This was a really cool experience,” Lausch said. “I’m excited for the younger guys to see this as something to work towards and something to build towards. Hopefully, they get back here consistently.”

Brother Rice vs. Edwardsville box score

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Crystal Lake South starter Mark DeCicco pitched a clean first inning, but Nazareth hit the ball hard and Roadrunners right fielder Nick Drtina could feel good things were about to happen for his team.

“We knew we were going to get to him,” Drtina said. “We were lacing balls left and right and we all had good approaches at the plate. We got on him and we didn’t stop.”

Drtina scored three runs, drove in one, and had one hit as Nazareth beat the Gators 16-3 Friday in the Illinois High School Association Class 3A state semifinals at Duly Health and Care Field in Joliet.

Drtina, a sophomore, and freshman Jaden Fauske have both committed to Louisville. Sophomore shortstop Cooper Malamazian is committed to Indiana. The Roadrunners (33-7) are loaded with college-bound upperclassmen as well.

Nazareth scored two runs in the second and broke the game open with six runs in the third inning.

Second baseman David Cox, a junior, led the onslaught for the Roadrunners with four hits, three runs, and a RBI. Luke Brabham added two hits and three RBI. Sam Wampler had a pair of hits and two RBI and sophomore Luca Fiore had two hits and a RBI.

Sebastian Gutierrez pitched all seven innings for Nazareth, allowing three runs on two hits. He walked five and struck out seven. Gutierrez has pitched most of the season in relief. His last start was April 17.

“They helped me by putting up a bunch of runs,” Gutierrez said. “I just had to execute pitches and they did the rest.”

Nazareth will face Glenwood (27-6) in the Class 3A title game on Saturday afternoon. The Titans are one of the state’s premier programs, winning state titles in 2010 and 1996 and finishing second in 2009 and 1995.

The Roadrunners, who were down to their last strike five times in their sectional win against Lemont, have never won a baseball state title.

“It’s just another game,” Nazareth coach Lee Milano said. “We never play our opponent, we play the game of baseball. Our goal on offense is to score a run an inning and our goal on defense is to avoid the big inning. That has given us a chance to win every game this year except two. That is how we will approach tomorrow.”

Crystal Lake South (19-15) made five errors and came up short defensively on several key plays in the key third inning.

“We don’t get here if we aren’t playing clean baseball,” Crystal Lake South coach Brian Bogda said. “This may have been one of our worst games of the year. They put the pressure on us and we made some mistakes.”

DeCicco and Ysen Useni managed the only two hits for the Gators.

Crystal Lake South upset St. Viator, one of the best teams in the state, in the sectional final and knocked off Fenwick in the supersectional.

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All games are at Duly Health & Care Field in Joliet.

FRIDAY, JUNE 10

Class 3A semifinals

Glenwood 2, Washington 1

Crystal Lake South vs. Nazareth, noon

Class 4A semifinals

Brother Rice vs. Edwardsville, 3

Mundelein vs. McHenry, 5

SATURDAY, JUNE 11

Class 3A

Third place, 9 a.m.

Championship, 11:30 a.m.

Class 4A

Third place, 3

Championship, 5:30

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A rapper from the South Side was killed and a woman with him was seriously wounded when he exchanged gunfire with someone in a black Cadillac early Friday.

Tristian Hamilton, a 31-year-old rapper who performed under the name FBG Cash, was hit by several bullets and was pronounced dead at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to police.

A 29-year-old woman was shot in the left arm and upper back and was taken in serious condition to Christ.

Hamilton had been driving around, the woman asleep in the car, when the Cadillac pulled up in the 1600 block of West 81st Street and someone with a rifle started shooting, police said. Hamilton grabbed a handgun and returned fire, police said.

No one was in custody.

Hamilton was part of a group of rappers known as the “Fly Boy Gang.” Nearly two years ago, another member of the group, FBG Duck, was killed in broad daylight on the Gold Coast by four masked shooters who left behind 38 bullet casings.

Four members of a street gang faction have been charged with the murder of FBG Duck, whose real name was Carlton Weekly. In April, Hamilton had been asked about rumors that he was somehow involved in Weekly’s death.

In a YouTube video, Cash denied any involvement, insisting it was a “crazy internet rumor.”

Hamilton had served prison time on gun charges several years ago and had been arrested again last year after police said they found a gun after stopping Hamilton for driving erratically.

He was charged with being an armed habitual criminal, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and felony possession of a weapon. The case was dismissed last fall.

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Arturas Karnisovas has always been honest.

When the Bulls’ executive vice president of basketball operations was hired from the Nuggets, he promised to be deliberate in making staff changes. He was.

Going into last summer, he insisted on adding talent to make the Bulls a playoff-caliber organization. He did.

So when discussing the follow-up plans to that playoff appearance, Karnisovas again offered a vague idea of what he’s looking to accomplish this summer.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “I understand that this roster is just one year old. I think besides its age, playing together for a longer period of time is going to contribute to familiarity and feeling more comfortable in tough situations.”

It was in those tough situations that the Bulls often shrunk, especially against the NBA’s elite teams.

But Karnisovas and the rest of the front office haven’t lost faith in Zach LaVine, whom they figure to offer a max contract in free agency as they run back the core for one more go.

That sounded like the basis of the plan when Karnisovas last spoke to the media. Continuity was the buzzword of that news conference.

But that doesn’t mean the Rudy Gobert rumors don’t have merit.

Gobert was linked to the Bulls for most of the second half of the season as the team’s defensive efficiency declined. Starting center Nikola Vucevic was oft-cited as one of the reasons why.

Fair or unfair, without a healthy Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball to cause havoc in the backcourt, Vucevic’s inability to protect the rim was more glaring.

Gobert would change that.

The Jazz big man has been an elite shot blocker for years but is now on a sinking ship. Coach Quin Snyder resigned, and Gobert’s on-court partnership with Donovan Mitchell reportedly has gone from counseling to irreconcilable differences.

If Gobert is the one who’s going to be moved, on the surface, the Bulls seem to be a good landing spot for the three-time Defensive Player of the Year. They could send Vucevic’s expiring contract in a package that could include Patrick Williams or Coby White and instantly become one of the better defensive teams in the East with Gobert, Ball and Caruso in the mix.

But a deeper dive into a deal like that also shows some red flags.

First, Gobert already has a max contract. If LaVine stays, the Bulls would have two players in the $40 million range by 2023-24 — and two players who have a history of playing on just one side of the floor.

Never a good idea.

Secondly, because of injuries and a pandemic, Williams basically has just one full NBA season under his belt, untapped and raw skills and youth (he’s still only 20). If Utah demands Williams over White, the Bulls might be reluctant.

Finally, don’t underestimate Karnisovas’ belief in Vucevic. Because of the big man’s ability to play outside as well as create, he maximizes the talents of LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, especially in offensive spacing.

Gobert would completely change how the Bulls run their offense, and it might not be for the better with the two All-Stars.

“He was one of our most durable players,” Karnisovas said of Vucevic in the exit meeting. “And I think if you think about the rotations, guards going in and out, wings going in and out, I think he would have been probably the hardest guy to replace. But he stayed available, and he’s been a vital part of what we run on offense, and all year long just being available, he’s been great for us.”

Take Karnisovas at his word. So far, he has been true to it.

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Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears visit Wrigley Field

Justin Fields can do more than throw footballs. He can blast baseballs over the ivy. The second-year quarterback went with the Chicago Bears to visit Wrigley Field Thursday. While at the ballpark, players hit balls at a home run derby.

Video posted to Twitter showed Fields, who played baseball in high school, launching one over the left-field wall. If Fields career doesn’t work out in the NFL, he could be able to take a Tim Tebow path to the MLB.

Crushin it!

The Bears have some bats on their roster

Fields wasn’t the only Bears player swinging for the fences. Bears Twitter posted videos of multiple players hitting the holy hell out of the baseball. These guys have some sweet athletic talents outside of what we see them do in football cleats.

It’s nice to see the Bears hanging out and having a good time after a long week of OTA’s. The Bears have had some adversity this week after being forced to miss a practice. But for now, that seems in the distant past. Next week, the Bears will continue their progress on the football field with a mandatory minicamp. Hopefully, the Bears hit that out of the park.

Make sure to check out our Bears forum for the latest on the team.

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Tony La Russa appears to be on the hot seat after another tough loss on Thursday afternoon.

The White Sox let a 4-0 lead slip away in the fifth inning in Thursday’s loss to the Dodgers, eventually dropping the final game of the series 11-9. But following the game, the main headline is on a decision that La Russa made during the game that backfired.

La Russa has been criticized for poor choices all year, but Thursday’s decision to intentionally walk Trea Turner on a 1-2 count with 2 outs might be the worst one yet.  With Max Muncy on deck and a runner on, La Russa called for the intentional walk and minutes later Muncy launched a three-run shot to break the game open and give the Dodgers a 10-5 lead.

The pitcher on the mound was lefty, Bennett Sousa, and with Muncy on deck, La Russa preferred the lefty versus lefty matchup despite already having two strikes on Turner.  The decision was bizarre to say the least. It left everyone scratching their heads, including the White Sox broadcast team.

Moreover, the unfortunate part of all this is that Muncy is a better hitter career wise against lefties than he is against righties. Muncy career stats against righties: .228/.357/.475, .832 OPS.  His career stats against lefties are as follows: .251/.365/.492, .857 OPS.  One would assume that La Russa would be aware of this information, and factor it into his decision making.

Nonetheless, La Russa defended his decision in the post game interview.  Just for the record, Trea Tuner is a career .197/.204/.304 hitter on a 1-2 count.

The mistake is just the latest for La Russa in what has been a frustrating time as manager of the White Sox.

In the second game against the Dodgers, La Russa started Leury Garcia in the leadoff spot.  Garcia is currently hitting .184 on the year.

Injuries have made it tough to have the same 9 hitters in the lineup daily.  Nevertheless, there has been zero consistency in the lineups being made all year long.  Players that are hot should be hitting higher in the lineup, not a different spot every game.  It almost feels like La Russa writes names of the players on pieces of paper and shuffles them around in his hat, and voila!

Additionally, La Russa is leaving his starters in the game for far too long.  In Thursdays game against the Dodgers, La Russa did not warm up anyone in the bullpen until Dylan Cease threw his 98th pitch of the game.  He made the same mistake in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays with Lucas Giolito.

For instance, La Russa once brought in a lefty to face a righty after a lefty had just batted in a critical situation back on May 12 against the New York Yankees.  That tells you everything you need to know about that.

This is not to say the White Sox struggles fall solely on the manager, but these type of decisions are hurting the team tremendously.  Above all, Inconsistent offense, bad defense, and injuries is this teams biggest downfall.

Is it possible La Russa could be the next one to be relieved of his duties?

Make sure to check out our WHITE SOX forum for the latest on the team.

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No injuries were reported after a fire broke out at an apartment building a block from Wrigley Field Friday morning, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

The fire was extinguished and firefighters were “chasing hotspots” at the building at 3531-3533 N. Sheffield, CFD Deputy Chief Brian Johnson said.

The fire began around 7:20 a.m. on a rear porch, Johnson said. Five adults and one child were displaced.

Video from news helicopters showed firefighters on the roof of the building extinguishing flames around 8 a.m.

Additional details were not released.

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