Chicago Sports

The Cubs moved up the start of their game against the Rays on Wednesday to 5:30 p.m. due to rain in the forecast later in the evening.

The Rays are not scheduled to come back to Wrigley Field this season, which would complicate rescheduling a rainout.

The series finale was originally scheduled for 6:40 Wednesday. No ticket exchange is necessary for fans attending the game. Gates are set to open at 4:30 p.m.

The three-game series is tied at one apiece entering play Wednesday, with right-hander Marcus Stroman scheduled to take the mound for the Cubs.

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Cubs switch hitter Ian Happ has ignored pressure to pick a side at several points in his baseball career.

“Different sides different years,” he said. “So, I think it’s just about having the confidence in yourself to know that this is the best choice for you.”

For much of Happ’s major-league career, his splits have favored his left-handed swing. But in the Cubs’ 6-5 loss to the Rays at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, Happ logged another momentum-swinging hit right-handed. The Cubs twice pulled within one run of the Rays but didn’t finish the comeback.

From a broader view, Happ’s strong start from the right side could, if his success continues, open up another part of his game this year.

“Just approach-wise, mentality, being able to go in there with a little bit of rhythm and free things up right-handed was huge,” Happ said of what he was able to carry over from the end of last year. “Something I hadn’t really done for the last few years, probably since ’17 right-handed.”

In 2017, Happ’s debut season, he hit for a better average from the right side (.276) than the left (.243). So far this year, he’s gone 6-for-12 swinging right-handed.

“What’s stood out to me so far about Ian is taking the balls to right,” Ross said this week.

Happ attributes those opposite-field base hits to that approach from late last year, “not getting too big and staying through the ball.”

Happ picked up switch hitting when he was 8 years old, spurred on by his older brother, and committed to it full time his freshman year of high school. His swings from each side of the plate, even beyond the obvious difference in leg kick, have always felt different.

“My hands work a little bit better right-handed as far as controlling the barrel,” Happ said in a conversation with the Sun-Times, “but my [bat] path is better lefty to get the ball in the air.”

So, his focus is different on each side. Swinging left-handed, Happ naturally creates a lot of loft, so he thinks about staying on top of the ball. From the right side, he’s trying to stay up the middle and get the ball in the air.

This offseason, Happ said, his work right-handed centered around, “rhythm and flow and feeling.”

He continued: “Even if I’m not getting consistent right handed at bats because of the schedule, still feeling like anytime I get in the box righty, I have that same rhythm and flow regardless of if my last at-bat was two weeks ago.

“I think that’s something in my career that I’ve struggled with right-handed. You could have five at-bats spread out over two weeks and be 0-for-5, but that’s a pretty small sample size. Trying to make adjustments based on that really doesn’t make any sense.”

Similarly, Happ’s 12 at-bats right-handed this season are too few to make any declarations about what his numbers will be at the end of the year. But they’ve made a difference in individual games.

Happ logged the go-ahead RBI right-handed in the Cubs’ 4-2 win against the Rays on Monday.

On Tuesday, Happ started the Cubs’ three-run rally in the fourth inning with a single to left field. Frank Schwindel drove him in with a double, and Patrick Wisdom hit a two-run homer to cut the Rays’ lead to 4-3.

Both teams scored two runs in the seventh inning to carry a one-run game into the ninth. But Rays reliever Andrew Kittredge retired the side in order in the Cubs’ last offensive frame.

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There are plenty of highlights to pick from right-hander Jake Arrieta’s career with the Cubs. So what stands out to Cubs manager David Ross, who played with him and later served as his manager?

”That one time he was awesome, like, that entire year,” Ross said.

That’s hard to forget.

In the wake of Arrieta announcing his retirement Monday, Ross and Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer shared memories of him Tuesday.

Arrieta had two stints with the Cubs. The second was a failed reunion in which he posted a 6.88 ERA last season before the Cubs released him in August. But the first was one for the record books.

The Cubs acquired Arrieta in a midseason trade with the Orioles in 2013, and the deal turned around his season. He posted a 7.23 ERA with the Orioles and a 3.66 ERA with the Cubs that season. Two years later, he won the National League Cy Young Award — that one time he was awesome all year. And he was an integral part of the Cubs’ World Series title in 2016.

”I think every once in a while we say, ‘Oh, so-and-so’s pitching like 2015 Arrieta,’ and then you [see] his actual numbers during that period [and] realize no one actually ever pitches like that,” Hoyer said. ”We knew it at the time that we’ll never see something like that again, probably in our career, and I think that’s gonna be accurate.”

Arrieta was impressive throughout that season — 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA — but his numbers were even more eye-catching in his last 20 regular-season starts. He posted a 0.86 ERA in those games.

”2015, that magical run that we made, we certainly don’t do that without his second half,” Hoyer said.

Arrieta then pitched a complete-game shutout in his first playoff game, a wild-card victory against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. That start set the tone for the Cubs’ surprise run to the NL Championship Series.

The next season, Arrieta earned victories in both World Series games he started against the Indians.

”He wanted the ball on the biggest stages,” Hoyer said. ”There’s probably no bigger testament to a competitor than that.”

Though all those playoff moments stood out to Ross, one regular-season game in 2016 held extra meaning for the former catcher.

Ross caught Arrieta’s second career no-hitter at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. It was the only no-hitter Ross caught in his career, and he said he has the home plate from that game framed in his house.

”The guy’s got probably some of the best stuff I’ve ever been around,” Ross said of Arrieta. ”And then talking about mental toughness, it [doesn’t] get much more mentally tough than that guy.”

The final chapter of Arrieta’s time with the Cubs wasn’t nearly as sweet, but it won’t be his lasting legacy in Chicago.

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Chicago Bears voluntary minicamp started Tuesday and new head coach Matt Eberflus is trying out players at different positions as a part of evaluating the talent the team has on its current roster.

Among the positions that were switched around included Teven Jenkins starting at right tackle and Larry Borom at left tackle. Both were draft picks of the Bears in 2021 and played significant time last season for the team.

Jenkins, a second year product out of Oklahoma State, was injured through most of last season but played left tackle at the end of the 2021 campaign when Jason Peters was injured. Jenkins has played right tackle before, as he switched between sides in his collegiate days as a Cowboy.

Switching up combinations on the offensive line makes sense, with the 2021 team giving up the most sacks in the NFL at 58. This will have to be improved if the Bears want Justin Fields to have a chance to be successful. The Bears also have a few fresh faces on the line, even though a lot on that group will likely change after the 2022 NFL Draft.

This is the perfect time to try new combinations, with the new regime implementing new offensive and defensive systems. The Bears will especially be doing this on defense with the 4-3 defense, as linebackers like Trevis Gipson will reportedly be playing defensive end.

Having a full evaluation of the roster will be crucial for new general manager Ryan Poles, as he can take that information and apply it to find his needs in next week’s draft.

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

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It’s pointless to make any judgment on what kind of coach Matt Eberflus will be for the Bears when he just got here and the season is still five months away.

The only meaningful assessment at this stage is whether he’s getting this project off to a good start. The core concerns are if his plan makes sense, if his staff is cohesive, if he’s resonating with players and if there are preliminary signs of it coming together.

It was a green light on all fronts Tuesday after his first practice at Halas Hall.

He hopes it’s the first of many steps in the right direction for the wayward Bears as he tries to lift them out of irrelevance and into the sustained success that has eluded them for decades.

“It’s been a short time, but I feel that it’s been real [well received] by the whole team,” he said of his blueprint, which centers on his H.I.T.S. principle. “It’s the rudiments of the game… It’s about doing the simple things better than anybody else does. They’ve been good.

“There was great execution out there for the first day… That’s a tribute to them paying attention to what we’re trying to do.”

H.I.T.S. starts with hustle, and that element was evident Tuesday as the Bears kept their tempo up throughout. And consistent with his promise to be a true head coach rather than sticking to his specialty, Eberflus spent most of his time with the offense.

There’s something refreshingly dry about Eberflus’ style, and his businesslike approach is ideal coming off an era that was heavy on rah-rah and light on results under Matt Nagy.

Pretty much any new coach would be warmly welcomed after the Bears flubbed to 22-27 the last three seasons, but Eberflus’ credibility seems to extend beyond simply not being Nagy.

The key, as Eberflus sees it, is being authentic and straightforward: adult-to-adult communication with clear expectations. It’s not much different than how it works at any company, and Eberflus is conveying that he’s equal parts coach and boss.

“Just be myself,” he said of his approach to getting players on board. “When you’re honest and upfront with guys and you tell them exactly [what you want] and you put it on the table so it’s plain to see, and then you challenge them to get that done, they appreciate that and they respect that.”

There’s a good chance most of these players hadn’t heard of him before he emerged as a candidate in January. If they’ve done minimal research, however, they know Eberflus started coaching before all but a few of them were born and he’s coming off an excellent run as Colts defensive coordinator.

The Colts were second in the NFL in takeaways and 10th in fewest points allowed over his four seasons. And unlike Nagy’s situation working under Andy Reid in Kansas City, there’s no skepticism over how much credit Eberflus can take.

So if H.I.T.S. was integral to building that defense and an all-pro like Darius Leonard endorses it — “Made me who I am,” he said — the Bears should be eager to adopt it.

“I’m hearing it even walking down the halls,” defensive end Trevis Gipson said. “It’s getting [imprinted on] our defense and our offense, and I think we’re going to have a fantastic year.

“When I first met the coaches, all they said was, ‘H.I.T.S. principle.’ We heard it yesterday. We’re hearing it today. It’s just, ‘This is what we’re about, this is how we do things, this is how we want you guys to do things and this is how you guys will do things.’ That’s sort of the culture right now, and I’m really appreciative of it.”

Spurring that reaction and willingness from the team at large is the biggest win Eberflus can get between now and training camp. He’ll need much more, but he’s on the right track.

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It was a bit happenstance, but Bears quarterback Justin Fields became a part of the Colin Kaepernick comeback tour last month.

The Bears quarterback was working out in Atlanta with elite quarterback trainer Quincy Avery (and Bears teammates Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet) when Kaepernick arrived for a workout as part of an offseason program he hopes will entice an NFL team to give him a chance to return to the league after being blackballed for the last five seasons.

“That was actually my first time meeting him,” Fields said. “But I worked with Quincy Avery in Atlanta, so I’m guessing he just came down there for a workout. It was cool meeting him. Of course, he’s an icon. It was awesome just to meet him and work with him.”

Kaepernick, 34, worked out for NFL scouts at halftime of Michigan’s spring game on April 2, but has yet to get a tryout invitation. He has not played in the NFL since 2016, when he had a 90.7 passer rating (16 touchdowns, four interceptions) for the 49ers.

“He looked pretty good,” Fields said.

Missing men

Safety Eddie Jackson, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and defensive ends Robert Quinn and Mario Edwards, Jr. were among 11 players on the 61-player roster who were not in attendance at Tuesday’s opening mini-camp practice. Quarterback Nick Foles also wasn’t there, but it’s unlikely he’ll be with the team this season, so his absence is not a surprise.

Mini-camps — and the offseason program in general –are officially voluntary, but historically attendance has been expected. That has loosened up in recent years, so it was no surprise that coach Matt Eberflus had no issue with key players being out when in the past even a team’s best players would want to make a good first impression after a coaching change.

“No concern,” Eberflus said. “Guys have things that go on personally. They’re working on a part of their body. Maybe they had an injury from last season and they’re working on that. Everybody’s got their own story and that’s not a big issue. Everybody’s done a good job of communicating with us and they’ll be here when they’re here.”

Line dancing

It was only drills on Day 1 of the first mini-camp, but for what it’s worth, Larry Borom lined up at left tackle and Teven Jenkins at right tackle Tuesday –a reversal from their rookie season.

Veteran Cody Whitehair was at left guard and free agent Lucas Patrick at center — but the other positions could be in flux up until the season opener, Eberflus said. Sam Mustipher, who started at center last season, was at right guard with the first team Tuesday.

“We’re looking at a lot of things right now, so you might see guys in different spots,” Eberflus said. We’re just trying to figure out what guys do and what they do best. So you could see guys flip sides during OTAs (offseason practices). This is a work in progress.”

Tryouts

Former Seahawks wide receiver David Moore is among five players participating on a tryout basis. Brown has 78 receptions for 1,163 yards and 13 touchdowns in five NFL seasons — more touchdown catches than any receiver on the Bears’ roster.

The other tryout players are kick returner JoJo Natson, cornerbacks Ryan Lewis and Greg Stroman and former Illinois State safety/kick returner Christian Uphoff.

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Caleb Jones was asked earlier this month a simple question: What does he think about his pending restricted free agency this summer?

“It’s always in the little bit of the back of your mind,” he said. “But you just have to take it one day at a time for things like that. You can’t get too far ahead. … As an RFA, it’s a little less nerve-wracking than being a UFA because they still have your rights. But that’s something that you just have to park in the back of your head.”

One would initially assume Jones shouldn’t have much to worry about. There are a lot of reasons why it would make sense for the Blackhawks to re-sign him.

They just acquired him last summer in the Duncan Keith trade. His brother, Seth, is an integral part of the team and enjoys having him as a teammate. He’s still only 24 years old — 25 come June. He has already set new NHL career highs this season in games played (48), points (13), hits (75) and just about every other category. He’ll be affordable to re-sign.

But the Hawks’ defense is approaching a critical moment this offseason, with a ton of prospects currently in the AHL knocking on the NHL door. That means Jones’ job may not be entirely secure.

“It’s good competition,” he said. “There’s always someone trying to get in the league and take your job. That’s just how it’s going to be.”

By contrast, the Hawks’ forward corps will take years for new general manager Kyle Davidson to rebuild, since that section of the prospect pool direly lacks talent. Many of the forwards the Hawks dress in 2022-23 will essentially be placeholders — players who probably won’t still be in Chicago when the competitive window reopens in a few years.

The Hawks’ defensive corps, however, are much further along in their generational transition. Much of Davidson’s maneuvering in that regard this summer will be designed to open opportunities for young players to break through.

So what will the Hawks’ defensive corps look like next season?

Seth Jones, whose massive eight-year, $76 million extension kicks in this summer, is the one absolute certainty. He has said all the right things about wanting to anchor and lead the Hawks through this rebuilding process, and that’s what he’ll be asked to do.

Connor Murphy and Jake McCabe have four and three years, respectively, left under contract, so they’re likely to return. Davidson probably wishes Stan Bowman hadn’t locked all three veterans into long-term contracts, but he can’t do anything about that now. Trades might be considered –McCabe’s name did come up a little bit before the deadline in March –but they’re relatively unlikely.

Conversely, Calvin de Haan and Erik Gustafsson will almost certainly depart as UFAs. Their two spots are the easiest for Davidson to clear.

Riley Stillman has two years left at an affordable $1.35 million –that contract situation being what really sets him apart from Caleb Jones — and, given he just turned 24, fits with the rebuild.

Ian Mitchell is almost certainly ready to return to the NHL after an excellent season of handling a No. 1 defenseman role in Rockford. Helping his cause further is that he’s a right-handed shot, something only him, Seth Jones and Alec Regula have in common among all the relevant defensemen in the organization.

And then Regula, Jakub Galvas and Alex Vlasic need chances to prove in training camp they deserve roster spots. Nicolas Beaudin, Wyatt Kalynuk (if re-signed as a 25-year-old RFA) and Isaak Phillips could fight their way into the mix, as well.

The Hawks need to start moving some of these prospects up into the NHL not only for their development but also to open AHL roster spots for the next generation of defensemen (Louis Crevier, Nolan Allan, Wyatt Kaiser, Ethan Del Mastro) who will arrive in the next couple years.

So, for the sake of this exercise, pencil in Murphy and Seth Jones as the first pairing, McCabe and Mitchell as the second, Stillman and someone as the third and someone else as the seventh defensemen in a theoretical 2022-23 Hawks defensive depth chart.

If Caleb Jones is re-signed, that leaves only one open spot for the prospects beneath Mitchell to fight for. If Caleb Jones walks, two spots are open.

Which scenario is preferable to the Hawks? It’s tough to say — depth is never a bad thing. But Jones’ fate is certainly an X-factor when projecting how things will sort out.

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Saying little, Justin Fields said a lot.

“Do I think I was always put in the best position to succeed [last year]?” the Bears quarterback said Tuesday, repeating the question he was asked before the Bears’ first voluntary minicamp practice. “Um, you know, I don’t know.

“But at the end of the day that doesn’t matter. You just have to handle what you’ve got and try to make the best out of it.”

This year, it’s up to the new coaching staff to do what former head coach Matt Nagy couldn’t — to try to make Fields a dynamic centerpiece of the Bears’ offense. That unfolded on a Halas Hall backfield for the first time Tuesday in a voluntary minicamp practice afforded the Bears because they have a new head coach.

“I hope that they will just tailor the plays to my skillset –which we’re going to do,” Fields said. “So, you know, just finding out what I do best, what we do best as an offense, what we do best as a team … and run that offense.”

That didn’t happen last year, when Nagy treated Fields as the backup until he was forced not to. It wasn’t until the third practice week of the regular season — after voluntary minicamps, mandatory minicamp, training camp, preseason practices and two weeks of game prep sessions — that Fields finally took all the starter snaps in a Bears practice. And that happened only because Andy Dalton hurt his knee.

Tuesday, he took the field as the Bears’ unquestioned starter. New head coach Matt Eberflus said he had an “excellent practice,” praising his command of the offense.

“I’ve noticed just his confidence,” Eberflus said. “He’s got a really good confidence in the room. When I’m in the quarterback room, when I’m in the offensive room, (he’s) calling out the plays, executing, and then what the adjustments are if we may have that for that particular play.”

Nagy, of course, used to give similar praise to Fields. But he also didn’t start him.

“Last year was my rookie year, of course, my first in the league– (I} didn’t know if I was going to start or not, didn’t know if I was going to play,” Fields said. “So my mindset right now is completely different than last year.”

Fields was forced to learn his second new offense is as many years. Tuesday, he said the obvious — that “it would be easier if it was the same offense as last year and we were just able to grow on that.” The Bears, though, failed spectacularly enough to warrant the firing of Pace and Nagy.

Year 2 has prompted changes big and small for Fields — from the Bears designing the offense around him to having him take the shotgun snap with his left foot forward, not his right, with hopes of improving timing with his receivers.

Fields made 10 starts last year, but only four after Halloween because of injuries and a Week 18 coronavirus diagnosis. When Fields did play. puzzling play-calling led to offensive ineptitude and a cringe-inducing sack rate. Fields threw three more interceptions than he did touchdowns and won only two out of 10 games.

Still, he doesn’t consider it all a loss. Being able to learn the speed of an NFL game was better that sitting on the sidelines, Fields said. Charitably, he described his rookie year as having ups and downs. He didn’t have the latter at Ohio State, where he went 20-2 as the starter.

Fields said he learned from it.

“You can’t really do anything but deal with it and keep fighting–keep fighting for another day,” he said. “And keep working.”

Fields saw a video online recently that preached “failing until you succeed.” He liked that idea.

“No matter how many times I fail,” he said, “I’m going to just keep going until I eventually succeed.”

It’s the job of his new coaches to help him get there.

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Khalil Mack being traded to the Los Angeles Chargers was disappointing to many Chicago Bears fans. The sack monster was also a beloved teammate.

Bears linebacker Trevis Gipson told the media Tuesday how he felt when learning the news Mack had been traded.

Gipson also told reporters that Mack was an asset to the team by providing valuable information to them.

“Yeah I learned a lot from Khalil man,” Gipson said. “He paved the way for a lot of things and showed me what’s right, wrong. How to do certain techniques. How to carry myself as a vet in this league. And I was very appreciative of his presence.”

The Bears will gain a 2022 and round draft pick and a 2023 6th round pick from the Chargers in exchange for Mack’s services. Mack’s best year for the Bears was 2018, when he recorded 12.5 sacks. His production had declined since, and he only started 7 games in 2021.

Having the extra depth will be nice, but the Bears will miss all that Mack can provide a team, including leadership, as Gipson said. Having a veteran of his pedigree to show young players how to improve and be a better person off the field is hard to replace.

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

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One thing Proviso East guard Jevon Carter was sure of as he packed his bags for his freshman year at West Virginia University in 2014: Though he was smaller than most, he played harder than anybody.

It had been at the heart of his ascent from neighborhood nobody to college prospect. It was why famously tough Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins had wanted him. Maybe it was going to be his ticket to the NBA someday.

Then Carter got to campus and met “the treadmill.” Whatever Carter had known about playing hard prior to that suddenly could fit inside a thimble.

“Get on it,” Huggins said.

Carter would become a two-time national defensive player of the year in part because of that treadmill. If he was going to play for Huggins, he was going to have to hop aboard — while it already was spinning furiously at 15 mph — and sprint for 45 seconds at a time.

Players would be scared. Some of them would crash from the machine to the floor. Huggins would shrug his bearlike shoulders. It’s why he’s going into the Naismith Hall of Fame later this year, one supposes, and certainly has something to do with why Carter now plays for the world champion Bucks.

But there was another influence on Carter’s development back then, a key to his hard-playing, defensive-oriented rise that had nothing to do with a Chicago background, a treadmill, Huggins or WVU’s hoops culture. It was the NBA guard — not a superstar, but a bad man — Carter watched on video and modeled his own approach after.

“I’ve been watching Jrue for a long time,” Carter told reporters as the Bucks and Bulls prepared for Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.

That’s Jrue Holiday, as if you needed to be told. The Bucks’ perimeter pit bull who might soon be at the center of Zach LaVine’s and DeMar DeRozan’s nightmares.

Holiday was a huge reason the Bulls shot 21.4% from the field — and 1 of 12 from the three-point line — in the fourth quarter of a 93-86 loss in Game 1.

“We were OK,” Holiday said of that defensive effort. “I think we can improve.”

So much of the chatter about this series spinning out of Game 1 is missing the point. Yes, the Bulls had a chance to steal a road victory in a series the Bucks are expected to win handily. Yes, LaVine and especially DeRozan are a dangerous duo late in games because each guard can create his own shot and likes the big moment. Yes, it was a good sign that big man Nikola Vucevic wanted the ball, too, even though his jumpers weren’t falling, either.

“I guarantee you that me, Zach and Vooch aren’t going to miss that many shots again,” DeRozan said, as if the opposition didn’t have a heck of a lot to do with it.

But if there’s one thing these Bucks know how to do, it’s close out a playoff game. The Bulls — still looking for their first playoff victory in five years — are crazy if they think all they really need to do is hang around, keep it close and strike late. No, the Bulls’ only chance might be to get out fast and desperately try to hang on to a lead. Because late is the Bucks’ time of game. Late is when champions snuff out upstarts’ sweet little dreams.

Doesn’t anybody remember what the Bucks did to the Suns after falling behind two games to none in last year’s Finals? Let’s take a quick glimpse at all the clutch ways in which they won four straight.

In Game 3, they blitzed Phoenix 30-9 and 24-6, respectively, to close the second and third quarters and didn’t let Suns guard Devin Booker breathe offensively. This one was over long before the closing minutes.

In Game 4, Khris Middleton took over offensively — scoring 40, including 10 straight down the stretch — and the Bucks’ fourth-quarter defense was an even bigger story. The Suns, who lost by six, had one field goal in a nearly six-minute stretch to close the game. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s key block against Deandre Ayton was an all-time highlight.

In Game 5, which the Bucks won by four, a 43-24 second quarter — the perfect quarter, really — got them back into it after a terrible start. It was anyone’s game near the end until Holiday had the sequence of his career, ripping the ball from Booker at one end and alley-ooping it to Antetokounmpo at the other end for a three-point play.

And in Game 6, a close, low-scoring affair, Antetokounmpo announced with a 50-point, 14-rebound, five-block performance that he was the new best player on the planet. But the real story of why the Bucks won: With that perimeter defense unleashed in full, they held the Suns without a three-pointer for the last 15:49 of the game.

Rewatch the fourth quarter of Game 6, and you might wonder what business the Bulls have even being on the court with this team. The way the Bucks can run shooters off the three-point line, forcing them into contested twos, is perhaps their most underappreciated attribute. It wasn’t a great defensive season for the Bucks on the whole, but they’ve been locked in during fourth quarters for a while now. It’s in their DNA.

“When it comes to those last five minutes, that stretch,” Holiday said, “I think that we’re good at locking in and locking down. … I think we accept and like the challenge.”

All aboard the playoff treadmill. Or whoever can handle it. It slows for no one.

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