Chicago Sports

Dan Kozlowski, of Crown Point, Indiana, is the world’s biggest White Sox fan — at least according to his belt.

Kozlowski specially ordered and personalized the giant black belt online. Born and raised a Sox fan, Kozlowski arrived at 5:15 a.m. to get a prime parking spot for Opening Day at Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday.

“I challenge anybody to be as big of a Sox fan as me,” Kozlowski said. “There may be some that tie me, but nobody beats me.”

He roots for the Sox through thick and thin, Kozlowski said, holding a beer in one hand and his belt in the other.

For Armando Davila — it’s more like through sleet and snow. A resident of the Galewood neighborhood, Davila has been attending Opening Day for more than 20 years and has experienced all sorts of weather.

“It started with my brother, my Dad and myself and a small grill,” Davila said. “It grew into my family and my kids, and now everybody comes.”

He’s grateful that it’s warm this year for Opening Day. Around Davila, about 15 close friends and family lounge and talk in lawn chairs. Davila is busy grilling sausages and said he would soon start some chicken wings.

Davila said he loves the environment of Opening Day.

“I love that everybody has a good time, and everybody is friendly,” Davila said. “That’s what it should be about: safety and friendship and just meeting people.”

Some fans, drinks in hand, play corn hole with friends. Kids pass footballs to one another. Tiffany Pillot and daugher Inahmi Soto, both West Lawn residents, brought a giant Connect Four game to the tailgate, and play over and over again.

Patrick Yeo is celebrating his 11th birthday at the White Sox game and is tailgating with his uncle, Burt Yeo. “It turns out class got ‘canceled'” his uncle said — using air quotes — “for the 11-year-old birthday guy.”

He’s been a White Sox fan his whole life, Patrick Yeo said — 11 years today. What is he most excited for this season? “Winning,” Yeo said.

Vanessa Ortiz, a nurse practitioner from Tinley Park, is 36 weeks pregnant and looking forward to bringing her new baby up a Sox fan. She wears a shirt with a heart-shaped-baseball design. “Baby” and the Sox logo are printed in the center.

“I was skeptical about coming because I’m so far along, but I got the OK yesterday from by OB, so I’m here,” Ortiz said. Her family has been season ticket holders for about 17 years.

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PITTSBURGH – The Cubs were still feeling the effects of this weekend’s bout with Brewers on Tuesday, as manager David Ross exited the field after PNC Park’s home opener festivities.

Cubs pitcher Keegan Thompson is appealing his three-game suspension for hitting Brewers outfielder Andrew McCutchen on Saturday. But Ross served his automatic one-game suspension on Tuesday. He gave pregame high fives to his players in the dugout before heading for the tunnel.

“There’s rules in place that we don’t have a whole lot of control of and some things that make you upset, and you can get mad about it, or you can understand, ‘what’s the point of wasting my energy on something I can’t control?” Ross said. “Rules are rules. And we’re gonna continue to try to win ball games, and look out for our group, and try to protect us as best we can, and keep competing at the highest level.

“And, sometimes, I’ve got to kind of be the fall guy as well. That’s fine.”

Major League Baseball determined that Thompson intentionally threw at McCutchen in the eighth inning of the Cubs’ 9-0 win Saturday at Wrigley Field. Brewers pitchers had hit three Cubs batters in the game, including outfielder Ian Happ, who left the game after taking a slider to the kneecap, and Willson Contreras, who has been hit 15 times by Brewers pitchers in his career, by far the most of any team.

Benches cleared after Thompson hit McCutchen, and Thompson was ejected. His suspension will be delayed until the appeals process wraps up.

“This is still a little like spring training,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. “We’re still trying to improve on things. So if we have a guy working on a certain pitch, and they think we’re trying to do something, how are they going to be able to judge that? I understand the context of what that was in, but that part of it’s tough.”

No Brewers pitchers were disciplined.

When asked if he thought the rules had been applied fairly on both sides, Ross said: “I’m not the judge or the jury.”

Injury update

Cubs right-hander Alec Mills (low back strain) threw 77 pitches in a sim game Sunday. He was penciled in to throw a bullpen Tuesday, but Ross said Mills had been feeling “under the weather,” which could affect his schedule.

Lefty Wade Miley (left elbow inflammation) played catch again on Tuesday, stretching out to over 100 feet, according to Ross. His next step will be to stretch out to 120 feet. If the feedback remains positive, he’ll throw off a mound after that.

Cubs shortstop Andrelton Simmons (right shoulder inflammation) was set to throw across the baseball diamond on Tuesday as part of his throwing program.

“He’s feeling better every day,” Ross said. “I know he feels positive, but we’re starting to ramp up the intensity, and so that’ll give the best feedback here the next couple days.”

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Welcome to Chicago, Trevor Siemian.

The former Northwestern quarterback signed with the Chicago Bears this offseason, passing up on interest from Las Vegas to sign with the Bears and backup second-year quarterback Justin Fields. And he’s officially been welcomed to Chicago in a unique way.

Amy Jacobson of ChicagoCityWire is reporting that Simemian had his car stolen at Beverly Country Club on 8700 S Western Ave. recently. It was one of two cars reported stolen:

Chicago City Wire confirmed that one of two cars stolen from Beverly Country Club, 8700 S Western Ave., was a new Dodge SRT belonging to Siemian.

The second car stolen was owned by Michael Gallagher, managing director at Morgan Stanley, sources tell Chicago City Wire.

Auto thefts in Chicago are up 45% per the Chicago Sun Times while thefts are up 61%.  Read the full story here.

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

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The volume was turned up and the F-bombs were flowing.

As one Bulls player told it, “Billy wasn’t [bleeping] around.”

Billy Donovan was born and raised in Rockville Centre on Long Island, and on that night his players were getting the full New York experience in the home locker room.

After that blowout loss to Charlotte, however, Donovan came into the media room, and rather than pointing fingers at his players, beating his chest about how he got after guys at the half, or just going with the usual coachspeak, he surprisingly pulled out the sword and fell on it.

“Some of the struggles that took place in the first quarter were things that we really tried to cover today at shootaround, and to be quite honest with you, I didn’t do a good enough job of creating maybe enough clarity for them on those situations,” Donovan said.

A simple answer with a lot of layers left for interpretation.

Was Donovan just playing the role of martyr and protecting his players? Was he being passive aggressive and actually putting it on his players by taking that approach?

Then there was the bigger picture. Did he put a target on his back for his front office by accepting responsibility for a lack of communication? Or was Donovan so comfortable with his four-year, $24 million deal, as well as his relationship with executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley, that he felt empowered to say what was exactly on his mind?

The Bulls and their fan base have seen a parade of different types of coaches since the Phil Jackson dynasty.

Even the three prior to Donovan were completely different in the way they went about their business.

Tom Thibodeau was dealing with a front office that he was smarter than, which led to an in-house civil war. Fred Hoiberg wasn’t prepared for the back-stabbing and sniping at his expense by his players and assistant coaches. Then there was Jim Boylen, who was the ultimate survivor, often manipulating the message to best fall in his favor.

No wonder the fan base has grown numb with coaches over the last few decades.

But with the Bulls about to make their first playoff appearance since 2017 this weekend, here’s a little secret about Donovan: He doesn’t operate with an agenda.

Well, not exactly true. There’s one. He wants a good night’s sleep.

“The way I look at it is I want to be able to put my head on the pillow at night and I want to be true to who I am,” Donovan said in an interview with the Sun-Times. “I think that when you’re coaching, I’m never going to be coaching 82 games and 48 minutes every night and not look back and say, ‘Geez, I made a mistake here, I made a mistake there.’ I’ve been someone that’s always looked at myself first. What I’m not going to do is when [the media] asks me these questions, if I feel like it’s on me, I’m not going to come up with something else. I do that, then how can I be honest with the players? How can I be truthful with myself?”

That mentality was why Donovan had no problem coming out during a then-eight-game winning streak and admitting that the streak was headed the wrong way if the defense didn’t improve. Then he came out of the All-Star Break in first place in the Eastern Conference insisting that the play “just wasn’t good enough.”

He was right on both accounts.

But how much of that falls on him?

The Bulls have gone from a seemingly contending team in the East to an organization now with more questions than answers, crawling into a showdown with the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks.

Guess what? The coach wasn’t hiding from any of that.

“I’ll always say, ‘What could I have done better on the things that we had control over?’ And also, ‘What are the things I need to look at and try and get better from?’ You start there as a coach and then work your way out,” Donovan said. “The other thing too is I’m not a guy through the course of a season trying to pick out these bright spots, like, ‘Oh, we’re in the playoffs for the first time in five years,’ or ‘But we got this many more wins from last year.’ I’m not into self-promotion, but even more than that, where are we at right now? You want to play your best basketball going into this time of the year, and we’re not.”

That’s what this week is about for Donovan. Trying to fix that to the best of his ability.

How fans view the job he’s done or how his bosses view it, again falls in that category of things Donovan can’t control.

There’s a reason he’s never been fired from any coaching position. Donovan doesn’t need to coach, he wants to. Need often makes guys try to manipulate the narrative or be a self-promoter.

“If there are repercussions because of how I am, I’m fine with that,” Donovan said.

By all accounts, Karnisovas is thrilled with the job Donovan has done. But even if he wasn’t, he also knows the type of guy he hired, no matter how the rest of this season plays out.

“That locker room to me is really, really sacred,” Donovan said. “When you stand up in front of your team to talk to them, I want them to feel like, ‘This guy is telling us what he really thinks. He’s not out here trying to manipulate, trying to spin things.’ No, I can’t. And I get it. I get the idea that being accountable opens you up to things in this position. But you have to be true to how you feel. That’s the only way I can be.”

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Derek King’s willingness to make in-season changes to the Blackhawks schemes he inherited from Jeremy Colliton has varied by zone.

In the offensive zone, King –after receiving feedback from his players –made a slight tactical change in February to allow defensemen to pinch more aggressively, hoping to keep more possessions alive by holding pucks in along the boards. The Hawks’ third forward (their “F3”) moves higher in the zone in those situations to protect against counterattacks.

In the neutral zone, the Hawks had switched to a 1-2-2 trap shortly before Colliton’s demise, and King — despite entering with no previous familiarity with it —kept it so the players wouldn’t have to readjust again. King said Tuesday he might change the neutral-zone system if brought back as permanent coach next season.

In the defensive zone, King’s adjustments have been the most significant. He instructed the Hawks to abandon the hybrid man-on-man structure Colliton swore by and to instead shift to more of a zone, with the two defensemen focusing on locking down the slot and the forwards defending out from there.

Sticking to that conservative structure and maintaining consistently stout defensive coverage, though, has proven to be easier said than done. The Hawks’ coverage has been particularly shoddy in recent weeks.

“Sometimes in the ‘D’-zone, you’re close to a guy and he’s moving up the boards, and you feel you have to stay with them instead of taking them so far and then switching them off to the forward,” King said Tuesday. “That’s the way they were doing it with Jeremy. They could keep their more man-on-man type of ‘D’-zone [system], chase their guy up and stay with him.

“We don’t want that. We want defensemen staying in front. We don’t want forwards standing and trying to play defense in front of our goalie. So let [the forwards] take care of all the stuff past the hash marks, and our ‘D’ will protect the front of the net.”

The zone defense, and the accompanying defenseman-to-forward (and vice versa) marking switches, inherently require more communication than Colliton’s man-on-man hybrid defense did. And that communication has also been a challenge for the Hawks during all this instability.

“If you’re not sure, communicate,” Seth Jones explained recently. “The guy on the puck needs to be assertive that he’s on the puck-carrier and then talk from there. Sometimes we get mixed up with switches and things like that.”

Jones said he has noticed “three-high” or even “four-high” offensive-zone schemes, with therefore only one or two offensive players situated down low or around the crease, becoming increasingly common in recent years. That system allows for more “free-roaming” puck and player movement, which “can be confusing” to defend.

The Kraken, for example, have adopted a “three-high” system in their first season of existence, and they frustrated the Hawks with it last Thursday.

Starting with Tuesday’s matchup against the Kings, however, King overhauled the Hawks’ defensive pairings– much like he did with the forward lines last weekend — hoping the refresh will improve the defensive coverage and results over the final weeks.

Jake McCabe notably moved back to his natural left side on a pairing with Alec Regula, who has been dominating the AHL recently and was recalled to provide a much-needed second right-handed shot. McCabe has been especially mistake-prone lately but King attributed that partially to an illness McCabe has been playing through.

Seth Jones was officially paired with Alex Vlasic, although he rotated around as usual, and Riley Stillman and Caleb Jones formed the new third pairing. Calvin de Haan, hampered by some “lower-body pains,” and Erik Gustafsson were scratched.

“We’ll just keep watching them and keep in their ear and help them out,” King said. “It’s alright to make mistakes; just make honest ones.”

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Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn is still looking to add another starter to the rotation, and with the recent injuries to Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito, one cannot blame him.  Although we are only 3 games into the 2022 baseball season, it is clear that the White Sox have lots of depth for position players.

This is evident by how productive the offense has been even with the injuries to Yoan Moncada and newly acquired A.J. Pollock.

Unfortunately, pitching depth is something the White Sox do not really have at the moment.  Hahn is still in talks with the Oakland A’s to acquire Frankie Montas.  Reports indicate that the deal has not progressed much because the A’s want Andrew Vaughn to be a part of the deal for Montas.  Hahn is hesitant to give up a player with the potential that Vaughn possesses.

Vaughn was drafted by the White Sox not long ago in 2019, and is already become a viable player for the team early in the 2022 season.  In 127 games for the White Sox last year, Vaughn hit 15 homers, 22 doubles, and drove in 48 runs.  He also played many games in right field and left field last season when injuries plagued the team, proving his versatility.  So far this season, Vaughn already has 10 hits, 2 homers, and 6 runs batted in.

Vaughn is only 24 years old and is the apparent future at first base after Jose Abreu.  Trading him for a good starting pitcher that would only stick around for at most two years does not seem wise, no matter how bad the White Sox do need another starter.  Vaughn is too important for this team moving forward.

That being said, if the White Sox can get a deal done that brings Montas to the White Sox without having to trade Vaughn, it would definitely be worth pulling the trigger.  A move like that would really help the team compete for a World Series title the next two years.  It is likely that players like Garrett Crochet, Gavin Sheets, Jake Burger, and Colson Montgomery would be involved in that type of trade.

If the White Sox acquire Montas, it would be the second time they trade for him.  The first time they traded Jake Peavy to the Red Sox back in 2013 in exchange for minor leaguers, one of which was Montas.  In 2015, the White Sox traded Montas to the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Is a return to Chicago in store for Montas?

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

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On Opening Day, with the Chicago White Sox boasting a 3-0 lead, starting pitcher Lucas Giolito prematurely left the game after four innings pitched. Over the weekend, it was discovered that Giolito suffered an abdominal strain and will miss at least the next two starts as he heads to the Injured List.

Giolito joins a growing list of White Sox pitchers, particularly starters, on the Injured List.

Lance Lynn was the crushing blow to the rotation as the ace will miss multiple weeks, needing knee surgery while Garrett Crochet, will miss the 2022 season with Tommy John surgery. Already, the White Sox are missing their top two of their top three starters from last season, and considering Carlos Rodon departed in the offseason, the team is without their top three pitchers from last season.

The pile-up of injuries puts the White Sox at a disadvantage to start the season and could ultimately be the team’s Achilles heel in April and beyond. However, the injuries shouldn’t be shocking. The loss of starting pitchers should have been anticipated by White Sox fans and baseball fans alike.

Shortened Spring Training

This is the most direct and explainable reason for injuries across baseball to starting pitchers. The MLB lockout ending in early March forced the abbreviated spring training with only four weeks to prepare for the season rather than six or more.

For the second time in three years, the MLB shifted to a shortened spring training. The last time, it was in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic preempting the shortened training window and a 60-game season. This time, however, the lockout is the culprit, and the consequences are eerily similar.

Spring training, for the most part, helps the pitchers. It’s no coincidence that pitchers and catchers report early. Starting pitchers use all those weeks to slowly build up to prepare for the marathon that is a 162-game season. The limited weeks left pitchers unprepared, especially early on for this season and it’s showing across the league.

The New York Mets lost Jacob deGrom right before the season. Likewise, the San Diego Padres starter Blake Snell is heading to the injured list with an adductor injury while Tampa Bay Rays starter Luis Patino will miss multiple weeks with an oblique strain.

The White Sox injuries, at least to Lynn and Giolito, are not arm-related. Lynn is having knee surgery while Giolito is dealing with aggravation in his abdomen. However, the White Sox starting pitching injuries are not an exclusive issue, within the context of the MLB at least. The next reason however likely explains why the White Sox lost their two primary starters early on this season.

White Sox Age in Rotation

Oftentimes, starting pitchers start to decline and face a surplus of injuries once they reach 30-year-old and beyond. Yes, there are pitchers like Satchel Paige, Randy Johnson, and Charlie Morton that can pitch for years and age gracefully. Overall, starting pitchers start to decline in their 30s and injuries eventually cost them their careers.

Lynn is 34 years old and turning 35 midway through the season. Despite rediscovering himself in a Cy Young caliber season last year, he’s in the twilight of his career. The veteran pitcher didn’t suffer a throwing arm injury but after dealing with right knee inflammation last season, the right knee injury is starting to cost him.

Lynn will have to start throwing on flat ground before returning to the mound just to come back to the team this season. This is the 11th season in Lynn’s career and one where the White Sox have to be cautious about rushing him back to the rotation as another setback would be costly.

While Giolito is 27-years-old and in the prime of his pitching career, the White Sox possess multiple pitchers in their 30s along with Lynn. Dallas Keuchel is 34 while relievers Liam Hendriks and Joe Kelly are 33 and 34 respectively. The White Sox, like many teams, were running the risk of injuries to pitchers in the latter half of their careers with the Lynn injury being the one that stands out.

Where The White Sox Go from Here

For starters, the White Sox will now rely heavily on Dylan Cease to step up as the ace in the rotation. Cease had a strong opening start and will be the number one starting pitcher with Michael Kopech joining him in the rotation, as he did in the opening weekend series against the Detroit Tigers. However, the injuries instantly put the back end of the rotation and the starting pitching depth to the test.

A Quick Glance At The Other Starters

This is where Vince Velasquez, Dallas Keuchel, and Reynaldo Lopez play a major role in the White Sox roster. Velasquez is the only new face of the three but has the most to gain in the rotation.

Velasquez was acquired in the offseason after a brutal 2021. The former Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres starter finished a season where he had a .471 expected opponent Slugging Percentage (xSLG) and a .368 weighted opponent On Base Average (wOBA). Both stats were among the worst for starters in the MLB. However, Velasquez has the opportunity to find his pitches again, notably his fastball which he threw only 49% of the time last season.

Keuchel is the veteran in the rotation who used to be one of the best pitchers in the American League. However, Keuchel is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career. As a result, he will likely remain a back-of-the-rotation starter that won’t take a lot of innings.

With Lopez likely playing a hybrid role, going from starter to reliever, it’s likely the White Sox will move him into the rotation for the next month. Lopez however needs to expand his pitch arsenal as he hopes to establish himself in the rotation. In one inning of relief against the Tigers, Lopez allowed a run but notably only threw fastballs and sliders in his appearance.

With the three available starters for the White Sox all having their glaring question marks, the backend of the rotation suddenly becomes a weakness in the roster. This could prompt the White Sox to bring Johnny Cueto up to the rotation sooner than anticipated. Cueto is not going to be anything special in the rotation but will help the team deal with injuries.

White Sox Bullpen

Moreover, the injuries bring the bullpen to the spotlight. The White Sox bullpen was already going to be relied on with their starters on inning limits, especially Michael Kopech. However, the bullpen is now an essential part of the White Sox success this season.

The 162-game season always tests the depth of every roster. Injuries are a part of the game and the White Sox have seen firsthand how the injuries can impact the roster. However, the White Sox also have the depth to compensate for the injuries and a bullpen that can accommodate a questionable rotation.

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

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The White Sox made four roster moves before this afternoon’s home opener:

Placed RHP Lucas Giolito on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 9) with an abdominal strain;Placed OF AJ Pollock on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 10) with a strained right hamstring;Recalled RHP Jimmy Lambert from Triple-A Charlotte;Recalled LHP Anderson Severino from Charlotte.

Giolito pitched four scoreless innings with six strikeouts before leaving with a lead in the Opening Day loss to the Tigers.

Pollock, acquired by the Sox from the Dodgers in the Craig Kimbrel trade,was hurt in Saturday’s game against Detroit. After reaching first base on a single against right-hander Case Mize in the third inning — his fourth hit of the season — Pollock grabbed the back of his right leg as he returned to first. He was replaced by Andrew Vaughn as a pinch runner and in right field.

Lambert allowed one run on one hit over three innings in his April 7 start for Triple-A Charlotte. He went 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA and 10 strikeouts in three starts and four overall appearances for the White Sox last season.

Severino, who has no major league experience, allowed three runs on three hits over 2 1/3 innings with Charlotte this season.

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A woman died after a cooking fire broke out at a Lincoln Park apartment building Tuesday morning, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Firefighters responded to a blaze around 6:50 a.m. when smoke alarms went off in the hallway outside a third-floor studio apartment at 2322 N. Commonwealth Ave., CFD spokesman Larry Langford said.

They quickly found the woman, in her mid-50s, in cardiac arrest and began CPR, Langford said. Paramedics brought her to Saint Joseph Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The fire was contained to the studio apartment and there was no word of other displacements, Langford said. There was a lot of smoke but little fire, and the blaze was extinguished quickly, he said.

A preliminary investigation found that the cause of the fire was “unattended cooking,” Langford said.

Autopsy results haven’t been released.

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A woman died after a cooking fire broke out at a Lincoln Park apartment building Tuesday morning, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Firefighters responded to a blaze around 6:50 a.m. when smoke alarms went off in the hallway outside a third-floor studio apartment at 2322 N. Commonwealth Ave., CFD spokesman Larry Langford said.

They quickly found the woman, in her mid-50s, in cardiac arrest and began CPR, Langford said. Paramedics brought her to Saint Joseph Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The fire was contained to the studio apartment and there was no word of other displacements, Langford said. There was a lot of smoke but little fire, and the blaze was extinguished quickly, he said.

A preliminary investigation found that the cause of the fire was “unattended cooking,” Langford said.

Autopsy results haven’t been released.

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