Chicago Sports

SAN DIEGO – Padres pitcher Yu Darvish couldn’t help but get in at least one jab when he welcomed Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki to San Diego this week:

“Hey, you like the warm weather here?”

In free agency this spring, Suzuki had chosen the Cubs, Darvish’s former team, over the Padres. And the weather at Wrigley Field this past month thanked him with wind, rain and bitter cold.

The Cubs’ three game series at San Diego this week gave Suzuki and Darvish a chance to catch up in person. Before the Cubs’ 7-5 win against the Padres on Wednesday, they exchanged jerseys in front of a swarm of cameras.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to hear Japanese,” Suzuki said with a smile, through interpreter Toy Matsushita, “so it was relieving.”

As much as Darvish may have wanted Suzuki to join him in sunny San Diego, Cubs fans also have Darvish to thank. He was one of the players Suzuki leaned on for insight as the highly-touted Japanese free agent weighed his options this spring.

Darvish had made the same transition from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball to Major League Baseball a decade ago, and he’d spent three seasons with the Cubs, a club Suzuki took interest in from the beginning.

“Not just a good influence on me, but I feel that he’s like a superstar,” Suzuki said of Darvish. “And just the fact that I know him is something that I’m very honored for.”

In addition to Darvish, Suzuki sought advice from Yoshimoto Tsutsugo and Shogo Akiyama in free agency, before he signed with the Cubs on a five-year, $85 million contract.

Former Cubs pitcher Kyuji Fujikawa didn’t have the same kind of support system of Japanese players in MLB when he went from NPB to the Cubs organization in 2013.

Fujikawa, 32 years old at the time, saw himself as kind of an older brother to the younger players in the organization, like Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks.

“Now I ask them, please take care of Seiya,” Fujikawa said after talking with Hendricks, now a veteran, on the field before Wednesday’s game.

Suzuki didn’t play Wednesday as the Cubs ease him back into play after he turned his ankle on a base Monday. Suzuki left that game early, with right ankle soreness, and pinch hit in the ninth inning Tuesday.

Even if he was fully healthy, Suzuki wouldn’t have faced Darvish this week. The right-hander’s next start is scheduled for Friday at Atlanta.

“I’ve only seen him pitch on TV, never in a real game,” said Suzuki, whose NPB career came after Darvish left for MLB. “So, I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to come soon. But by then I want to make sure I could get a hit off him. Because at this moment, he’s going to get me out.”

The Cubs face the Padres again next month, at Wrigley Field.

On this week’s trip, Darvish gave Suzuki restaurant recommendations in San Diego. And after the initial banter, Darvish did assure Suzuki that Chicago would get warmer than it was last week.

“So, I’m looking forward to it,” Suzuki said, “but also at the same time, I’m kind of worried if it’s true or not.”

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SAN DIEGO — Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner was watching the flight of the long fly ball to center field and running out to serve as the cutoff man.

“I was on the ground before I really realized what happened,” Hoerner said after the Cubs’ 7-5 win against the Padres on Wednesday.

Hoerner left the Cubs’ 7-5 win against the Padres early with a right ankle sprain, after a collision with an umpire. The Cubs will be able to determine the severity of the sprain when the swelling goes down.

In the first inning, with switch-hitter Jurickson Profar up to bat, Hoerner was shifted over to shallow right field. When Profar hit a triple off the center field wall, Hoerner ran back and to his right while second base umpire Dan Iassognaran out to make the catch/no-catch call.

“I’m seeing the ball and trying to pick up the fielder,” Iassogna told the pool reporter. “When I made my initial look, I didn’t see anybody. I thought I had an open road.”

Neither saw the other until they collided and Hoerner fell to the ground.

Cubs manager David Ross and an athletic trainer checked on Hoerner after the play, and the shortstop stayed in for the rest of the inning and his next at-bat. Ildemaro Vargas replaced Hoerner in the field in the bottom of the second inning.

“We were both just doing our jobs, and weird things happen sometimes,” Hoerner said.

Cubs manager David Ross said he’d never seen a play like that before.

“I know Dan feels terrible. He was checking on him here after the game,” Ross said. “It’s just one of those fluke things.”

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Violence flare-ups in Chicago, especially when the temperatures soar, are never easy to stomach, no matter how frequent.

The bullets showering the South Side in three mass shootings and the gunshots that rang out by “The Bean” downtown earlier this week, injuring a 19-year-old man, were no exception.

Tragically, many of us have grown accustomed to the headlines. But Chicago can never accept the news of one shooting after another. Not when so many of us dread the summer months, wondering if bloodshed is on the way.

No one should have to live with that fear. The crimes that blanketed our city on Tuesday and Wednesday are another bleak reminder that stopping the violence must be leaders’ top priority.

Last month, after what was then the most violent weekend of the year, we renewed our plea for a summit where criminal justice experts, law enforcement leaders, community activists and others could convene, all together, to discuss the most effective strategies to keep our communities safer.

We don’t mind sounding like a broken record, if the repeated message could save lives.

Stakeholders, roll up your sleeves, shelve your egos and differences and start talking, together. Now.

Violence is Chicago’s worst scourge. Everyone — low-income, middle class and the wealthiest alike — wants an end to it all.

Take billionaire Ken Griffin, whom we have criticized in the past. But we have to hand it to Griffin, who on Tuesday announced that he will be contributing $25 million to launch two University of Chicago academies that will provide six months of training to police leaders here and elsewhere, and to those who run violence interrupter groups.

Michael Sacks, CEO of GCM Grosvenor, will also be donating an additional $2.5 million in seed money for the schools, which the U. of C. said would cost $75 million, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Frank Main reported.

More training and education for those who deal with high-risk individuals can only help. Police leaders and those from violence intervention groups will share a few classes, and having the two groups become more familiar with each other is a plus too.

It’s telling that on the same day Griffin and Sacks made the announcement, gunfire erupted. It was a harsh tip-off illustrating the difficult task ahead.

By the day’s end, 21 people had been shot. Eleven of those victims were struck in a pair of mass shootings.

In one of the incidents, a 19-year-old man was gunned down and four other teenagers were wounded as little girls played by an open hydrant in Back of the Yards. Five hours later, in Jackson Park, six people were wounded when an argument broke out between two groups who were live-streaming, police said.

Minutes before the second mass shooting, a teenager was shot in the shoulder as he sat in the back of a vehicle on the first block of North Michigan Avenue in the Loop.

It wasn’t the first time violence broke out in the downtown area this month.

Then on Wednesday, two adults and two boys police described as “pre-teens” were injured in a shooting in West Englewood.

Police Supt. David Brown on Wednesday blamed the Back of the Yards shooting on a 28-year-old convicted felon. He also took a dig at the Cook County criminal court system for recently allowing the reputed gang member to be released on a relatively low bail for a weapons charge, despite his violent record.

Brown didn’t say what role the man played in the shooting, but said he’s been behind most of the recent gang violence in the area.

“There needs to be a better risk assessment by judges,” the top cop told reporters. “The police did their job.”

Brown was frustrated, and he has a legitimate point. Cook County is set to get rid of cash bail, but the court system must ensure public safety comes first. Criminal justice reform advocates and law enforcement have to put aside their differences and figure out how to accomplish that.

There are strategies and solutions to tamp down violent crime. They will only work if everyone involved comes together.

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The Bears added two veteran receivers to their weakest position group Wednesday, agreeing to sign Tajae Sharpe and Dante Pettis.

Sharpe, who caught 25 passes for 230 yards with the Falcons last season, agreed to a one-year deal with the Bears, a source confirmed Wednesday night.Pettis, who caught 10 passes for 87 yards last season, posted a photo of himself signing a Bears contract on social media.

The 27-year-old Sharpe’s best season came as a rookie in 2016, when he caught 41 passes for 522 yards. He played his first four seasons for the Titans, who drafted him in the fifth round, before appearing in four games for the 2020 Vikings.

Sharpe started seven games in Atlanta last season after spending about a month with the Chiefs — and future Bears general manager Ryan Poles — in spring 2021.

Pettis, a 26-year-old former second-round pick out of Washington, also had his best season as a rookie, catching 27 passes for 467 yards for the 2018 49ers. He played for new Bears receivers coach Tyke Tolbert as a member of the Giants the last two years.

They join a receiver room that includes Darnell Mooney and new additions Byron Pringle, Equanimeous St. Brown and David Moore, among others.

Bears cut Horsted

Tight end Jesper Horsted, who counted three touchdowns among his 10 career catches with the Bears, was cut with an injury designation. A Princeton wide receiver whom the Bears converted to tight end, Horsted was a preseason darling in his three years with the team.

The Bears claimed tight end Rysen John, who spent last year on the Giants’ injured reserve. The Vancouver native played at Simon Fraser in British Columbia.

New general manager Ryan Poles re-signed Horsted as an exclusive rights free agent a month ago– but also gave veteran tight ends Ryan Griffin and James O’Shaughnessy one-year deals in free agency.

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It’s not like the White Sox defensive problems have arrived from nowhere to drop a cruel reality on a team that entered the season with World Series aspirations.

They were apparent last season when the Sox won 93 games en route to the AL Central Division title. They were evident when a good defensive team, the Houston Astros, beat them decisively in the ALDS.

Perhaps the Sox’ tiring starting rotation was the bigger reason for that. Something can be done about that this season – monitoring pitchers’ usage, giving more rest between starts, or signing up outside sources like Johnny Cueto to help carry the load.

But doing something about improving defensive play on the fly is another thing. Hitters can be hot and cold, making adjustments as they grind through a 162-game schedule. And when healthy, the Sox’ lineup core of Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu, Luis Robert, Yasmani Grandal, Eloy Jimenez and Andrew Vaughn should produce runs — although doing something about a .282 on-base percentage that ranks 29th will be necessary. But aside from Robert in center field, it’s not an elite defensive group, and it’s hard to see that changing between now and October, when every play is magnified and the margin for error is so slim.

The Sox were tied with the Pirates for the major league lead in with 26 errors in 29 games Wednesday, including an MLB high nine by Anderson, their shortstop. Their next two opponents, the Yankees and Royals, had seven and 10, respectively, to lead baseball. Per FanGraphs’ defensive runs above average, the Sox are last among 30 teams at minus-11.8. And the last-place ranking isn’t going anywhere soon with the 29th ranked Pirates at 3.7 runs better.

It’s significant that Anderson, who plays the most important position on the infield, leads the majors in errors after he made 10 all last season. He has admirably stood up to questions about his defense and doing only what he knows to do about it.

“Keep working,” he said.

Manager Tony La Russa believes Anderson, a former batting champion with a .337 average in 2022, can be better. He was very good with the glove Tuesday a night after being bad on Monday with two errors.

“You don’t ignore the errors but everything he’s doing that’s not right can be fixed,” La Russa said.

After the Sox lost a 12-9 game in 11 innings to the Guardians Monday, making four errors in the game and blowing a six-run lead in the ninth inning, La Russa refused to say defense was to blame. He defends his players always, and he wouldn’t even acknowledge that eight unearned runs beat his team.

Knowing La Russa, he was probably saying the Sox should have won despite the display of drops, muffs and bad throws. They had prime chances to drive in runs to win it after they coughed up the lead.

“If you watch the games that were close or we’ve won, we made a lot of defensive plays,” La Russa said Tuesday. “We’ve had some breakdowns for whatever the reasons … I’m confident that we’re a good enough defensive club and we’ll get better.

“Several places where a play was not made, I can see why and I know it can be fixed.”

The Sox starting rotation with Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease and Michael forming a powerful big three and Lance Lynn arriving next month can win a championship. The bullpen can be one of the best. And runs should be scored.

But few teams over history have overcome bad defense to win a championship.

It’s in their hands.

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SAN DIEGO – A couple hours after the White Sox and Guardians’ game Wednesday was postponed due to multiple positive COVID-19 tests within the Guardians organization, the Cubs and Padres’ game had COVID-19 news of its own.

The Padres announced Wednesday afternoon that third base coach Matt Williams had entered COVID protocols.

The Cubs, of course, were missing pitchers Marcus Stroman and David Robertson in San Diego. Both had been placed on the IL earlier this week without an injury designation, which generally indicates a COVID-19 related move.

“We’ve come to a place where we understand this is the world we’re living in, and trying to keep everybody healthy and also get back to a normal sense of the world that we’re living in and what everybody else is doing,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “So, there’s things like that, that are going to pop up, and we’ll try to handle them and keep everybody safe.”

Just as local and federal guidelines and restrictions have relaxed with the advent of the COVID-19 vaccine and the progression of the pandemic, so have Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols.

Outbreaks have become less common, but as the White Sox and Guardians’ postponement reminded baseball, not eradicated.

Hoerner exits early

Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner left Wednesday’s game early with what the team initially called right ankle soreness after a collision in the first inning. He will be further evaluated.

Padres two-hole hitter Jurickson Profar hit a triple off the center field wall, and Hoerner and second base umpire Dan Iassogna appeared to be watching the long fly ball travel when they ran into each other in shallow right center field.

Ross and an athletic trainer checked on Hoerner after the play, and the shortstop stayed in for the rest of the inning and his next at-bat. Ildemaro Vargas replaced Hoerner in the field in the bottom of the second inning.

Suzuki out of the lineup

Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki was out of the lineup Wednesday for the second straight game. He left Monday’s game with right ankle soreness, trying to beat out a ground ball double play. He pinch hit in the ninth inning Tuesday and was available off the bench again on Wednesday.

“We’ve got an off day tomorrow, if we can just get h as much rest as possible,” Ross said. “Make sure we’re playing that safe.”

Newcomb to IL

The Cubs on Wednesday placed left-hander Sean Newcomb on the 15-day IL with a left ankle sprain. The move is retroactive to Sunday, when Newcomb hurt his ankle in the outfield during batting practice.

In a corresponding move, the Cubs recalled right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. from Triple-A.

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The Bears swapped out their third-string quarterback for one with more experience.

Nathan Peterman, who had four ill-fated starts for the Bills from 2017-18, signed a one-year deal with the Bears on Wednesday. To make room, the Bears cut Ryan Willis, whom the previous regime signed as an emergency quarterback last season.

A Bills 2017 fifth-round pick, the Pitt alum started two games as a rookie and two more in his second season. During that span, he went 1-3, throwing three touchdowns and a whopping 12 interceptions.

In his first career start, the rookie threw five interceptions in the first half alone against the Chargers. The next year, he threw three picks in a 41-9 home loss to the Bears. One was returned 19 yards by Leonard Floyd for a touchdown.

The Bills cut Peterman after two years. He spent the next three seasons with the Raiders before they released him in November.

Willis led the offense during the Bears’ rookie minicamp last weekend.

Peterman, who turned 28 last week, will back up starter Justin Fields and second-stringer Trevor Siemian.

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Oh, no. Please, no. In the name of all that is good and right and true in this world, tell me that Luke Getsy didn’t say it.

Tell me that the Bears new offensive coordinator didn’t just say what someone should have told him never, ever to say. Tell me that Getsy didn’t say of quarterback Justin Fields what former Bears head coach Matt Nagy said of former Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky every day for four years.

That he cares a lot and works hard.

He didn’t say that, right?

Yes, he did.

”There’s no one in this building that works harder than him,” Getsy said of Fields other day. “There’s no one that cares more than him.”

My eyes are vacant. My chin is resting on my chest. Not this again.

If Getsy had done his homework, or if someone in the organization had done his homework for him, he would have known that when we in Chicago hear a coach talk about a quarterback’s incredible work habits and enormous capacity to care, we reflexively think one of two things: Either the quarterback can’t hit a receiver with a pass from 10 yards away or the quarterback regularly looks up from the playbook and says, “No one told me I had to learn Sanskrit.”

That analysis might not be fair to Getsy or Fields, but we’re dealing with so much scar tissue here that the merest mention of a player “caring” is enough to send us over the edge. Thanks to Nagy, Trubisky became the Care Bear. It didn’t take long for it to dawn on us that Nagy’s gushing about the quarterback’s non-physical attributes was meant to ward off questions about Trubisky’s poor performances on the field.

I imagine Getsy’s quotes have triggered a certain amount of concern among clear-thinking Bears fans – those of you who haven’t jumped on the Fields bandwagon just yet. You saw him play during his rookie year in 2021 and saw his statistics (seven touchdown passes, 10 interceptions, 73.2 passer rating), weighed all of it against Nagy’s sad offensive scheme, and aren’t yet willing to take part in the ongoing Fields lovefest around town. Getsy’s recent comments probably didn’t help your post-Mitch, post-traumatic frame of mind.

He also told reporters that, four months into the job, his rapport with Fields is “tremendous.” I know relationships are important in the NFL, especially between the OC and the QB, but why does everything have to move so fast? What happened to a first date, flowers and a goodnight kiss at the door?

Getsy’s thoughts on his quick bond with Fields were reminiscent of former Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz’ lightning-quick connection with Jay Cutler. I asked Martz during the 2010 training camp, his first with the Bears, if he was working extra hard at making their relationship succeed, given that both men were known to be headstrong.

“I don’t mean any disrespect towards you, (but) if you knew how silly that was and how easy things are between he and I — I just thoroughly enjoy his company outside of the football part of it,” he said. “He’s got a great sense of humor, by the way. He’s a little screwed up in his sense of humor like I am, so we kind of fit pretty good, I think.”

He thought wrong. During a 2011 Bears-Vikings game, TV microphones picked up Cutler screaming at Martz.

“Tell (him) I said “f*** him!” Cutler said.

I’ve raised this question before, but it’s worth revisiting, mostly because it never seems to go away: Why do coaches reserve their highest praise for the player most important to the franchise? Why is it never the backup left guard who cares the most about the team, the offense, the locker-room camaraderie and the low water level of the Colorado River? Why doesn’t the strong safety’s work ethic make the coach think of a single mom juggling three jobs? Possibly because the backup left guard and the strong safety don’t butter the coach’s bread. The quarterback does.

I don’t know if Getsy believes what he’s saying about Fields, but I do believe he wants Fields to believe it. Somewhere in the Big Book of Coaching is a chapter on the importance of connecting with the quarterback and connecting in record time.

Nagy worked extremely hard at encouraging Trubisky, and the kid seemed to eat it up. In the end, though, it’s not about all the peripheral stuff. I don’t care that Fields cares so much. I care about whether he can play. Can he? I don’t know yet.

I’d ask him that question, but he’s probably too busy working harder than everyone else on the planet.

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Oh, no. Please, no. In the name of all that is good and right and true in this world, tell me that Luke Getsy didn’t say it.

Tell me that the Bears new offensive coordinator didn’t just say what someone should have told him never, ever to say. Tell me that Getsy didn’t say of quarterback Justin Fields what former Bears head coach Matt Nagy said of former Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky every day for four years.

That he cares a lot and works hard.

He didn’t say that, right?

Yes, he did.

”There’s no one in this building that works harder than him,” Getsy said of Fields other day. “There’s no one that cares more than him.”

My eyes are vacant. My chin is resting on my chest. Not this again.

If Getsy had done his homework, or if someone in the organization had done his homework for him, he would have known that when we in Chicago hear a coach talk about a quarterback’s incredible work habits and enormous capacity to care, we reflexively think one of two things: Either the quarterback can’t hit a receiver with a pass from 10 yards away or the quarterback regularly looks up from the playbook and says, “No one told me I had to learn Sanskrit.”

That analysis might not be fair to Getsy or Fields, but we’re dealing with so much scar tissue here that the merest mention of a player “caring” is enough to send us over the edge. Thanks to Nagy, Trubisky became the Care Bear. It didn’t take long for it to dawn on us that Nagy’s gushing about the quarterback’s non-physical attributes was meant to ward off questions about Trubisky’s poor performances on the field.

I imagine Getsy’s quotes have triggered a certain amount of concern among clear-thinking Bears fans – those of you who haven’t jumped on the Fields bandwagon just yet. You saw him play during his rookie year in 2021 and saw his statistics (seven touchdown passes, 10 interceptions, 73.2 passer rating), weighed all of it against Nagy’s sad offensive scheme, and aren’t yet willing to take part in the ongoing Fields lovefest around town. Getsy’s recent comments probably didn’t help your post-Mitch, post-traumatic frame of mind.

He also told reporters that, four months into the job, his rapport with Fields is “tremendous.” I know relationships are important in the NFL, especially between the OC and the QB, but why does everything have to move so fast? What happened to a first date, flowers and a goodnight kiss at the door?

Getsy’s thoughts on his quick bond with Fields were reminiscent of former Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz’ lightning-quick connection with Jay Cutler. I asked Martz during the 2010 training camp, his first with the Bears, if he was working extra hard at making their relationship succeed, given that both men were known to be headstrong.

“I don’t mean any disrespect towards you, (but) if you knew how silly that was and how easy things are between he and I — I just thoroughly enjoy his company outside of the football part of it,” he said. “He’s got a great sense of humor, by the way. He’s a little screwed up in his sense of humor like I am, so we kind of fit pretty good, I think.”

He thought wrong. During a 2011 Bears-Vikings game, TV microphones picked up Cutler screaming at Martz.

“Tell (him) I said “f*** him!” Cutler said.

I’ve raised this question before, but it’s worth revisiting, mostly because it never seems to go away: Why do coaches reserve their highest praise for the player most important to the franchise? Why is it never the backup left guard who cares the most about the team, the offense, the locker-room camaraderie and the low water level of the Colorado River? Why doesn’t the strong safety’s work ethic make the coach think of a single mom juggling three jobs? Possibly because the backup left guard and the strong safety don’t butter the coach’s bread. The quarterback does.

I don’t know if Getsy believes what he’s saying about Fields, but I do believe he wants Fields to believe it. Somewhere in the Big Book of Coaching is a chapter on the importance of connecting with the quarterback and connecting in record time.

Nagy worked extremely hard at encouraging Trubisky, and the kid seemed to eat it up. In the end, though, it’s not about all the peripheral stuff. I don’t care that Fields cares so much. I care about whether he can play. Can he? I don’t know yet.

I’d ask him that question, but he’s probably too busy working harder than everyone else on the planet.

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The White Sox’ scheduled game against the Guardians Wednesday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field has been postponed due to multiple Guardians COVID-19 issues.

The announcement was made at 12:15 p.m., 55 minutes before the scheduled start. There were multiple positive tests results affecting the Guardians, most of them from the coaching staff and traveling party, including manager Terry Francona.

The postponement was made to allow for continued testing and contact tracing.

The Sox and Guardians split the first two games of the series. The game will be made up at a later date to be announced.

The Sox open a four-game series against the Yankees at Guaranteed Rate Field Thursday.

Vince Velasquez was the Sox’ scheduled starter.

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