Chicago Sports

During his introductory news conference Tuesday, Fire designated player Jairo Torres made it very clear his goal is to play in Europe. Like new teammate Jhon Duran – also a highly coveted prospect with options when he signed – Torres sees the Fire and MLS as the right team and league to propel him across the Atlantic Ocean.

But why?

Torres, 21, left Liga MX club Atlas to come to Chicago, departing from the reigning Mexican champion and a team in contention to retain that title. The Fire, meanwhile, haven’t won a major trophy since 2006, experienced their last postseason victory in 2009 and as of Tuesday had a 28% chance to make the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight. Their attack has been dull so far, and the Fire’s last goal through open play in an MLS match came 458 minutes ago.

The Fire hope Torres and fellow arrival Chris Mueller can help them start producing some offense.

“He’s a player that can really change the fate of a team,” coach Ezra Hendrickson said Tuesday about Torres, before th Mueller signing was official. “So we’re very happy to have him and looking forward to seeing great things from him on the pitch.”

MLS thinks it’s on the verge of becoming great, and is undoubtedly on the upswing with ambitious new owners and fancy soccer-specific stadiums popping up around the league. Still, Liga MX is still generally considered a higher level, and its teams have historically dominated North American club competitions, even with the Seattle Sounders becoming the first MLS club to claim the Concacaf Champions League.

Yet none of that deterred Torres, a player who also aspires to represent Mexico in major international tournaments. He said MLS is watched a lot in Europe, and mentioned that Atlas is experiencing a “really good time” after past struggles.

“I put it upon myself as one of my goals to come here and do good things here and basically do the things here that I did over there,” Torres said through a translator.

Fire technical director Sebastian Pelzer said the club’s pitch to Torres was about his potential fit on the team and how eager the coaching staff was to add him to the roster. The city of Chicago, with a large Mexican population, was also a selling point.

Pelzer also stressed that Torres made a sporting decision to join MLS.

“The league is also getting better and better and we feel it ourselves,” Pelzer said. “Every year [the league] gets better. And also the Europeans, they see it now as a better league. It’s growing and you see also the number of transfers being made in the past. They speak for themselves, and that’s why it is an attractive league to come maybe before taking a step to Europe.”

Torres echoed that sentiment. He said the league has been growing for “many, many” years and wants to continue an increasingly busy pipeline from MLS to Europe.

“At the end of the day, that’s everyone’s dream, to be able to go to Europe,” Torres said. “So it was really attractive for me, and the project that they showed me when they presented it to me was also one that I really liked and really enjoyed. And hopefully we’ll be able to put it through and see it through to the end.”

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It was all going so well in April, wasn’t it? I’m referring to the Sox and Cubs, not the spring cleaning that was quickly a failure. I’ll show you what I mean. Let’s take a random date in April, like the 18th (I admit, it’s not random).

On April 18, the first-place White Sox were 6-3 with a two-game lead. The Cubs were 6-4 in a virtual tie for first with the Cardinals. The month ended with the Sox at 8-12, in third place, 3 1/2 games back, and the Cubs at 8-13, in 4th place, 6 1/2 games back.

You don’t need to be a scientist to figure out that to make the postseason, you first have to win games, then win series, take the week and win the month. Each team needs to be better in the months ahead, or all you’ll have is the joy of doing well on my weekly quiz. Do well.

1. In the 2021 season, how many losing months (under .500) did the White Sox have?

a. 0

b. 1

c. 2

d. 3

2. In April 2022, the Cubs scored 94 runs for the month. Looking at the National League Central, this was . . .

a. More, less or the same as the Reds.

b. More, less or the same as the Pirates.

c. More, less or the same as the Cardinals.

d. More, less or the same as the Brewers.

3. In April 2022, the Sox scored 64 runs for the month. Looking at the American League Central, this was . . .

a. More, less or the same as the Twins.

b. More, less or the same as the Guardians.

c. More, less or the same as the Royals.

d. More, less or the same as the Tigers.

4. In April, Corbin Burnes of the Brewers and Max Scherzer of the Mets each had two games in which they recorded 10-plus strikeouts. Combined, how many 10-plus strikeout games did Cubs and Sox pitchers have? Bonus points if you can name the pitcher(s).

a. 0

b. 1

c. 2

d. 3

5. Do you remember Anthony Rizzo? You know, the first baseman? He hit nine home runs in April for the Yankees. You know, the team in New York? His homer total was . . .

a. Less than the Tigers.

b. More than the Tigers.

c. The same as the Tigers.

6. This was the first month of a designated hitter in the National League. Last season, the last season of pitchers hitting, NL pitchers hit .109 in April, with the Cubs’ pitchers hitting .073. This April, the NL DHs hit .220. How did the Cubs’ DHs do?

a. They hit for a higher average than the league.

b. They hit for a lower average than the league.

c. They hit for about the same average (within 10 points) as the league.

7. Who had Chicago’s longest hitting streak in April?

a. Frank Schwindel

b. Luis Robert

c. Yasmani Grandal

d. Seiya Suzuki

8. Dylan Cease led all Chicago pitchers in April in strikeouts. Patrick Wisdom led all Chicago batters in April in striking out. Who had more Ks for the month?

a. Dylan Cease

b. Patrick Wisdom

c. Cease and Wisdom had the same amount of whiffs

9. On May 7, 1999, Carlos Lee did something that no other Sox player had ever done before. What was it?

a. Hit four homers in a game.

b. Strike out five times in a game.

c. Homer in his first MLB at-bat.

d. Get hit by four pitches.

ANSWERS

1. None. Zippo. Nil. Nada.

2. The Reds scored 66 runs. The Pirates scored 78. The Cardinals scored 82. And the Brewers, like the Cubs, scored 94 runs.

3. The Twins scored 85 runs. The Guardians scored 94. The Royals scored 59. And the Tigers, like the Sox, scored 64 runs.

4. None. Zippo. Nil. Nada. Dylan Cease and Lucas Giolito each had a nine-strikeout game. Marcus Stroman and Kyle Hendricks each had a seven-strikeout game.

5. The Tigers hit eight in the entire month.

6. The Cubs’ DHs hit .162 with one homer and two RBI in 74 at-bats.

7. From April 12 to 20, Frank Schwindel hit in nine straight games, going 10-for-36 for a .278 batting average.

8. They each had 28 strikeouts.

9. In the bottom of the second, on his fifth big-league pitch, Carlos Lee homered in his first MLB at-bat off Tom Candiotti. A first for him and a first for the Sox. While it wasn’t the Cubs’ first time, on May 7, 2010, Starlin Castro also homered in his first at-bat.

Have a great week, and don’t forget to drop me a line at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter @BillyBall. Send me a question, and you can be included in the weekly quiz.

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Growing up in Compton, few rep Los Angeles harder than DeMar DeRozan.

That includes its basketball legends.

In DeRozan’s world it’s everything Kobe Bryant and then the rest can go stand in line. “Air,” Bron, Shaq, doesn’t matter. Bryant was DeRozan’s sensei, from teaching him to understand the importance of the mid-range game to an offseason training program that would make most NBA players puke.

That’s why DeRozan was such a good guest in the latest “Interrogation Room.” The veteran wasn’t worried about how his takes would be received, but at the same time he was well thought out in how he wanted to respond.

So turn on the bright light and pour a cup of day-old coffee, as the Bulls’ best player this season pulls up a chair in the “Interrogation Room.”

Joe Cowley: “OK, you good?”

DeMar DeRozan: “Always.”

JC: “Alright, most underrated player in the NBA right now?”

DD: “Wow, that’s a great one … most underrated … most underrated from my opinion and one of my favorite players to watch I would say is Jrue Holiday, yeah, Jrue Holiday.”

JC: “Best logo in the NBA, and you can’t pick Bulls.”

DD: “Toronto.”

JC: “Best uniform in the NBA … it can be any from any era?”

DD: “OK, this is a surprise one, but I like the old school, and this will probably sound crazy, but the San Antonio … the white ones. I like those.”

JC: “Best coach not named Billy Donovan that you played for? It can be at any level, high school, college …?”

DD: “Easy … Pop [Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.”

JC: “One coach you wish you could have played for at any level?”

DD: “Phil Jackson.”

JC: “You’ve had your share of dust-ups in your career, out of these three guys which one that you had to be separated from was actually a fight you would have welcomed?Was it [Mo] Wagner, [Enes] Kanter or [Goran] Dragic?”

DD: “Kanter.”

JC: “Details?”

DD: “None needed … it was obvious.”

JC: “Best player you know, whether it was on the playgrounds, college, high school, that didn’t make the NBA?”

DD: “Ohhhh, best player … there was a guy named David Hamilton that went to my high school. He was older than me … David Hamilton. He was kind of like the neighborhood hero that went to Compton High.”

JC: “Put in order these three guys to take the game-winning shot in a Game 7 – MJ [Michael Jordan], Kobe, Bron [LeBron James]?”

DD: “Kobe, then MJ, Bron.”

JC: “Wow, really?”

DD: “Yep, Kobe one.”

JC: “OK, who did more as far as putting Compton rap on the map? Cube, Dre, Eazy, Ren or Yella?”

DD: “There wouldn’t be none of them if it wasn’t for Eazy. Gotta say Eazy.”

JC: “I know how much USC means to you … one of your daughters comes up to you and tells you she wants to play for UCLA, what do you say?”

DD: “Ohhh, ohhh, [laughs]. I’m going to give her a week notice to re-evaluate and see if that’s for sure what she wants to do. And she has to give me the pros and cons of it. Then we’ll have to weigh it out together.”

JC: “Team plane goes down on a deserted island – and we have to keep it players only since Zach [LaVine] said a few years ago that the first person eaten would be [broadcaster] Stacey King – survival at its finest, who is the first player on the team eaten and who is the lone survivor?”

DD: “Wait, so we’re stuck on an island, food is obviously limited, who is the last survivor?”

JC: “Who is first eaten, because somebody is getting’ eaten, and then who is last survivor?

DD: “First person eaten? Tony Bradley [then lets out an evil laugh].”

JC: “Sounds like there’s a story there.”

DD: “Someday.”

JC: “And who is last survivor?”

DD: “Me.”

JC: “Why?”

DD: “Cause I’ve been on that deserted island [more laughing].”

JC: “I think I know what that means, and I like it!”

DD: “Yep [More laughing].”

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The Bill Masterton Trophy, given annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey,” has evolved into essentially an “overcoming hardship” award.

Its winner has typically dealt with a major injury or health issue (like 2021 winner Oskar Lindblom, a cancer survivor), shed light on a personal struggle (like 2020 winner Bobby Ryan about his alcohol abuse) or championed an important cause (like 2019 winner Robin Lehner with mental health awareness).

Dylan Strome fits none of those categories. It’s why he was “taken aback” when told he was nominated for the Masterton this year, as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Frankly, it’s also why he probably won’t win with candidates like Carey Price and Jack Eichel in the field.

But absent any monumental off-ice story, Strome’s case is as worthy as any.

It would certainly be difficult to find any player around the league who encountered as much on-ice adversity — cast permanently into one coach’s dog house and a healthy scratch in nine of the first 26 games — as Strome did, who handled it with as admirable an attitude as Strome did and who persevered through it to succeed as much as Strome did.

“It’s an honor, for sure,” Strome told the Sun-Times recently. “I’m nowhere near comparing myself to those guys, guys that have beat cancer or battled through the mental battles they’ve gone through. [But] everyone is fighting their own battles. You never really know what someone’s going through completely.

“When you’re in the public eye so much, you’ve got to answer the questions. When things are going well or aren’t going well, you’ve got to answer the questions either way. I just try to be a positive guy, a good teammate, fun to be around, and you get rewarded when you do things like that. I’m proud of myself for the way I’ve handled this season, and hopefully it’s a sign of good things to come.”

The 25-year-old center tallied 41 points in his last 47 games this season, good for a 72-point pace over a full season.

He surged for 11 points in nine games between Jan. 4-28, then 10 goals and 17 points in 11 games between March 5-26 — he accurately noted he “scored almost half my goals in one month” — and finished off his excellent second half with a goal in the season finale against the Sabres.

Furthermore, his chemistry on the first line with Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane kept the Hawks afloat offensively many nights and helped DeBrincat and Kane both enjoy prolific years. Back in December, when Strome was barely able to squeak into the lineup many nights, that sentence would’ve sounded ridiculous.

“[It was a] roller coaster of a season,” he said. “I started out not in the lineup and just worked my way back in. Obviously, everything happened — coaching change-wise — and I started playing a bit better and getting more opportunity. That’s where it all came from: getting that opportunity.”

In the end, his belief in himself was completely validated, something he admits felt gratifying. He earned a moment to toot his own horn.

“You’ve just got to stick with it, like I said earlier on in the season,” he said. “If you try to be someone else or do something else on the ice that’s not your game, that’s when things can go really wrong. I just tried to stick to who I am and play the same way I have. I’ve proven I can produce before, and I feel like I did it again.

“You’ve just got to trust yourself, believe in yourself, and when you get put in position, you’ve got to take your chances and run with it. That’s the big thing. Lots of guys get chances to play with some good players, but it’s the guys who take advantage of it [who] work out best in the long run.”

Strome plans to head back home to the Toronto suburbs this summer to train with his brothers — at least once Ryan Strome’s playoff run with the Rangers ends. (The Hawks have rooting interests in the Western Conference playoffs, too, since deep runs by the Wild and Oilers could improve their draft positions.)

His biggest summer plan of all is scheduled for August: his wedding with his fiancee, Tayler. But before then, Strome will become a restricted free agent — with arbitration rights — and learn whether he’s returning to Chicago in 2022-23 or joining a new team. It’s all up in the air and difficult to predict at the moment; Strome hasn’t had any “real conversations” yet with the Hawks.

After grinding through this chaotic season, though, he’s content to accept the temporary uncertainty and turn his brain off for a while.

“I’m very happy with the fact I haven’t been thinking about [my contract situation] a lot this year,” he said. “I haven’t been asked about it a lot, to be honest, which is nice. My first go-around, in my [2019-20] contract year, I was questioned about it a lot, which made me think about it a lot more, and it was constantly on my mind.

“This year, I just wasn’t really thinking about it a lot of the season — because I was just trying to get in the lineup and worry about playing and let the rest take care of itself.”

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One person was killed and three others were wounded by gunfire Friday in Chicago.

A 37-year-old man was sitting in his vehicle about 7:45 p.m. in the 4400 block of North Hamlin Avenue when another vehicle drove up and someone from inside fired shots, Chicago police said.

After the shooting, the man fled and struck multiple cars, causing his vehicle to turn over, police said.

He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name hasn’t been released.

Hours later, a man and woman, 54 and 28, were found on the ground with gunshot wounds in the 700 block of East 73rd Street about 11:15 p.m., police said.

The woman was shot throughout the body and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she was in critical condition, officials said.

The man was shot in the right calf and was taken to the same hospital in good condition, authorities said.

Earlier in the day, a man, 47, was in the 4900 block of West Gladys Avenue about 1:30 p.m. when he was shot in the upper left arm and grazed in the head, police said.

He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was in good condition, police said.

Two people were killed and seven others wounded Thursday in shootings in Chicago.

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BOSTON — When last seen, Vince Velasquez was standing in a driving rain Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field, battling Mike Trout in the sixth inning during a masterful start, easily his best performance of the young season.

When the umpires called for the tarp, effectively ending Velasquez’ day, he stood there, smiling and talking with Trout, both wanting to finish the duel. It was one of the neater moments of an April lacking for neat ones on the South Side.

Velasquez probably couldn’t wait for Friday to bring what he had that day to Fenway Park to face the Red Sox, and while skeptics wondered if he could spin two good games in a row, he did just that with five innings of one-run ball in a 4-2 White Sox victory.

The White Sox were going for their fourth straight win and fifth in six games, a stretch that began with Velasquez’ 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 4-0 win against the Angels, his first win since last June 29 with the Phillies.

Against the scuffling Red Sox (10-17), Velasquez worked ahead in the count and threw 49 of 75 pitches for strikes. He allowed a run on three hits, walking two and striking out two, lowering his ERA to 3.94.

He’s pitching like someone who wants to stay in the rotation that currently includes Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Dallas Keuchel with Johnny Cueto possibly arriving from Triple-A Charlotte next week and Lance Lynn expected back after knee surgery as soon as the end of the month.

Velasquez left with a 3-1 lead thanks to a sac fly by Jose Abreu and home run by Luis Robert against Nathan Eovaldi in the third. Robert, who survived a run-in with the center field bricks at Wrigley Field two nights earlier, showed he was none the worse for wear when he skied one over the Green Monster in left field with AJ Pollock on base. Robert’s homer, his fourth of the season tying him with Tim Anderson and Andrew Vaughn for the team lead, came after Abreu plated Anderson with a sacrifice fly.

Anderson had three singles, raising his average to .330. Two of the hits were against Nathan Eovaldi, who entered with a 2.51 ERA but needed 101 pitches to get through five innings.

Adam Engel, who pinch hit for left fielder Gavin Sheets and stayed in the game in right field as a defensive upgrade, helped the Sox stretch the lead to 4-1 when he singled, stole second, advanced to third on a flyout and scored on Reese McGuire’s sacrifice fly.

With Kendall Graveman pitching, Engel let Jarren Duran’s sinking liner get past him for a leadoff triple in the bottom of the inning, and Trevor Story’s RBI groundout cut the White Sox lead to 4-2.

Liam Hendriks struck out three batters in a scoreless ninth for his eighth save. Against the Cubs Wednesday, Hendriks recorded his 85th career save to become the all-time leader among Australian-born players. He surpassed Grant Balfour (84 career saves).

It had been an emotional night for Hendriks, whose grandfather died before the game. On his Instagram account, Hendriks said he hasn’t been home to see him since 2019 because of restrictions and “was overwhelmed by emotion and the memories of him.”

Velasquez was 0-7 with a 13.50 ERA and .364 opponents average in his previous seven road starts. The Sox signed Velasquez to a one-year, $3 million contract as a free agent March 13 as rotation depth and a project for pitching coach Ethan Katz. Velasquez was 3-9 with a 6.30 ERA last season with the Phillies and Padres, pitching in 25 games including 21 starts.

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BOSTON — Two days at Wrigley Field, three at Fenway Park, all in a week. It’s like a baseball history tour for the White Sox. And for rookies like left-hander Tanner Banks, who along with fellow rookie relief pitcher Bennett Sousa, Jake Burger, Gavin Sheets and Ryan Burr went exploring inside the Green Monster Friday, the aura of the place wasn’t lost on them.

“There is something about an energy in a major league stadium you can’t get anywhere else,” Banks said Friday, “but then you come to these iconic, century-old ballparks and think of the greats who graced these halls and played on this field.”

Fenway has been home of the Red Sox since 1912.

“It’s cool. It’s history. It’s where baseball originated,” Sheets said.

Banks is a feel-good story enjoying the majors for the first time. At age 30, he was beginning to wonder if he’d get to play in a big league park, let alone Fenway. And he wasn’t leaving Boston without checking out the big green wall.

Inside, “you feel that energy of not just the present game but those who came before,” he said.

“There were so many names in there, thousands. And we got to write our names up there and you think, ‘Is this going to be around another 100 years? Is the ink going to fade? I guess it’s our jobs to make that ink have meaning.”

With Andrew Vaughn on the IL and manager Tony La Russa playing a more defensively polished AJ Pollock in the more spacious right field, Sheets, a first baseman by trade, played left by the Monster. It was all meaningful, he said.

“The newer clubhouses are nicer and have all the cool stuff but knowing the guys who walked through these doors and played here, that is the fun part,” Sheets said.

With a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings and eight appearances, Banks can feel like he came with some cred. But he knows getting to the big leagues is one thing and staying is another.

“It remains to be seen,” Banks said. “You have to do your job, get outs and give your team a chance to win.”

Rotation plans

Dylan Cease will start Saturday on regular rest and Dallas Keuchel Sunday on six days. Johnny Cueto, signed to a minor league contract, has had enough work at Triple-A Charlotte and is a possibility to join the team next week, although La Russa wasn’t specific about a plan with six starters in the mix.

“He’s in the discussion now,” La Russa said. “He’s made enough starts, so we are talking about him. So, the best thing is he’s in the conversations. We’ll see what the result is.”

The Sox have 18 games in the next 17 days with a doubleheader in Kansas City May 17.

“We are just going to try to really analyze how guys are throwing and if they need extra time,” La Russa said.

Michael Kopech will start Monday when the Sox return home to play the Guardians.

Vaughn on mend

Vaughn, who landed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Monday, received a cortisone shot for the bruise in his right hand. Manager Tony La Russa was hopeful Vaughn would return when he’s eligible Thursday against the Yankees, although the issue of whether he’ll need at-bats at Triple-A Charlotte might come into play.

“We are going to miss him here,” La Russa said.

La Russa said X-rays and MRI were “clean.”

“There’s no damage in there,” he said.

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Even as the feeling that the Bears should have used at least one of their two second-round picks on a wide receiver lingers, the two players they picked have tremendous potential as they begin their careers together in the secondary.

Cornerback Kyler Gordon (No. 39 overall) and safety Jaquan Brisker (No. 48) got together this week for the first time and dreamed of their future. This could be an essential partnership as coach Matt Eberflus works to establish his defense.

“As we build our relationship, I think it’ll definitely benefit us,” Gordon said of Brisker. “We definitely talk about getting the playbook and pushing each other along and stuff, so I think it’ll be good for us. I’m happy I’ve got him on my side.”

Bears fans could eventually see it that way, too,and let go of thedisappointment thatgeneral manager Ryan Poles didn’t use one of those picks on a high-flying wide receiver.

The priorities in the modern NFL are to pass and stop the pass. Teams with great quarterbacks are almost always good. Teams that can thwart those quarterbacks also like their chances.

And the secondary that Eberflus and Poles inherited was alarming.

Few defenses were easier to throw on than the Bears last season. Despite being near the top of the NFL in sacks, the Bears allowed a league-worst 103.3 passer rating and gave up the third-most touchdown passes at 31. Jaylon Johnson was the only cornerback among the regulars to hold quarterbacks below 65% completions when they threw his way.

But Gordon and Brisker are eager to correct that. And quite a few factors stack in their favor as they begin.

Both are widely considered exceptional talents, and there’s clearly an expectation for them to be Week 1 starters. Poles disregarded Gordon at points during his pre-draft prep because he thought it was simply unrealistic to think he’d be available that late, and he thought Brisker’s aggressive, hard-hitting style embodied everything he intends this team to be.

They’ll also benefit from the chemistry they’ve already started forming, and it’s significant that the first NFL defense they’ll learn is Eberflus’. Everything they’ll know about playing defense at this level, they’ll learn from him and defensive coordinator Alan Williams.

“They’re starting at the floor and working their way up,” Eberflus said. “Those guys will have that special bond with each other and they’re going to learn it as they go. They’re very intelligent and they’re going to work together. That’s going to be exciting to watch.”

If they’re good quickly, Gordon and Brisker could flip the secondary from a total liability to the strongest part of the Bears’ defense.

One of the best assets Eberflus saw when he walked in the door was Johnson, a superb parting gift left by Ryan Pace. And if this staff can get former all-pro safety Eddie Jackson to buy in, that secondary will start to look scary.

And if Jackson’s unwilling or unable to meet Eberflus’ demands, they’ll move forward molding Brisker into a star.

“The hitting is there,” Eberflus gushed. “The old terms that a lot of my mentors used to use is quickness, instincts and striking ability, and that’s what he has… What a positive energy guy, too, and you can really feel the light coming out of him.”

The Bears badly need some rays of light after the last three seasons.

It’s better for Gordon and Brisker that they missed all of that. Instead, their arrival coincides with the reset. So they’re learning, but so is everyone else. Fresh faces for a fresh start.

“It’s a great opportunity — a new staff, a lot of new people,” Brisker said. “Everybody wants to change this around, and that’s what they brought me here to [do]. It fits right.”

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Bears rookie Velus Jones remembers the exact moment he knew he was a kick returner.

“Pop Warner, when I was in park league,” said Jones, a 6-0, 204-pound wide receiver taken in the third round of the draft last week. “When I had my first kickoff return against a real good park league team [that] at the time had lost one game since we were four years old, and we were 10 at the time. [That’s when] I realized sky’s the limit.”

As Jones remembers that moment, he was just winging it as a 10-year-old in youth football. But even then he showed some instinct for the nuance involved in returning kicks.

“We didn’t have no field, middle or boundary return,” he said. “The ball was just rolling on the ground and I picked it up. But I remember at a point that I was slow picking it up so I could bring them in a little more, and then I picked it up and I knew I could get away with speed. And then I just followed my blocks.”

That’s all well and good, but Jones more than likely is going to have to show that same athleticism and intuition as a wide receiver to give the Bears what they were looking for when they took Jones with the 71st overall pick in the draft.

Jones, in fact, has the highest draft pedigree of anyone in the Bears’current wide receiver corps — a notably nondescript group headed by Darnell Mooney (fifth round, 173rd overall in 2020), Byron Pringle (undrafted in 2018), Equanimeous St. Brown (6-207 in 2018), David Moore (7-226 in 2017), Isaiah Coulter (5-171 in 2020) and Dazz Newsome (6-221 in 2021).

As much as any of them, Jones will be an interesting early test of the new Bears regime’s ability to identify, develop and maximize talent. Jones comes in with modest college production –62 receptions for 807 yards (13.0 avg.) and seven touchdowns at Tennessee last season. He was projected to go in the fifth round of the draft — about 150th overall –before the Bears took him 71st overall. But his speed (4.31 at the Combine), athleticism, run-after-catch and jet-sweep potential make him an intriguing offensive weapon.

But players like that — especially a developmental player such as Jones –often are the beneficiary of a good offense as much as an initiator. Tarik Cohen withered in Matt Nagy’s offense. Cordarrelle Patterson was underproductive in it — he had much more success with the Falcons last season. But Jones’ versatility gives Getsy something to work with.

“I was talking to Luke the other day about the special attributes that [Jones] has and he’s got a big plan for him,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “He’s going to look at his skill set and then we’ll expand that role. Let’s start him out at receiver and then let’s see what he can do — moving him around to different spots and getting him the ball, because he is an explosive athlete.”

It remains to be seen if Jones can fully develop as a receiver while also handling kick-return duties. (Even the great Devin Hester struggled with both –his kick return production dropped significantly in 2008-09 when he became the Bears’ leading receiver, then picked up again in 2010-11 when he was not as big a part of the offense.) But Jones embraces the dual role.

“I want to win games and help this coaching staff win games,” Jones said. “I’m all about winning and any way I can affect the game, definitely in the return game and as a receiver. I’m blessed that I can do both because I can impact the game in different ways. I’m really excited about that. Wherever they need me to be, that’s where I’ll be.”

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The formidable Dodgers actually have a weakness that the Cubs hope to exploit Saturday in a split doubleheader at Wrigley Field.

The Dodgers, who lead Major League Baseball with a plus-57 run differential while averaging 5.39 runs a game, are batting only .226 with a .657 OPS against left-handers.

That presumably has prompted the Cubs to start left-handers Drew Smyly and Daniel Norris against them.

Smyly’s start will be finalized once he’s officially activated from the bereavement list. Smyly has limited left-handed batters to a career .219 average, and he’s allowed only one hit in 12 at-bats against lefties this season.

Max Muncy and Justin Turner are each batting .087 (2-for-23) against left-handers, and Gavin Lux (.214) hasn’t fared much better.

Norris, who will be making his first start since 2020, has allowed one hit in 10 at-bats against lefties this season.

The teams will play a doubleheader at 12:05 p.m. and 6:40 p.m. after Friday’s game was postponed due to inclement weather.

Outfield outlook

Cubs President Jed Hoyer tempered expectations as early as last September when Brennen Davis, the organization’s top prospect, was concluding a dominant 2021 season at Triple-A Iowa.

Davis had reduced his strikeout rate by more than 8% to a 22.1% whiff rate in 68 plate appearances at Iowa following a promotion from Double-A Tennessee last summer. The assumption was that Davis was putting the finishing touches on a promotion to the majors in early 2022.

Hoyer’s warning has been validated by Davis’ 34.1% strikeout rate in 91 plate appearances at Iowa this season. Davis is batting .195 with two home runs and seven RBIs, so any hint of a promotion would occur after a cutdown in strikeouts and more production.

There’s no rush to promote Davis, who has only 661 professional at-bats.

The forecast currently is brighter for Nelson Velazquez, a fifth-round pick out of PJ Educational School in Carolina, Puerto Rico, in the2017 draft.

The Cubs placed Velazquez, 23, on the 40-man roster last November after a breakout season at South Bend, Tennessee and Mesa in the Arizona Fall League.

His .288 batting average with nine home runs and 17 RBIs in 22 games at Tennessee earned him a promotion to Iowa on Friday. Velazquez was ranked as the organization’s 15th top prospect by Baseball America.

Velazquez’s promotion was first reported by The Athletic.

Pete Crow-Armstrong’s start has raised optimism that the organization could finally develop a bonafide leadoff hitter. Crow-Armstrong, acquired from the Mets for Javier Baez last July, is batting .397 with a .495 on-base percentage and 1.123 OPS at Class-A Myrtle Beach.

Crow-Armstrong, who was selected by the Mets with the 19th overall pick in the 2020 draft, has produced four home runs, 16 RBIs and seven stolen bases after missing nearly all of last season after suffering a torn right labrum.

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