Chicago Sports

CHICAGO — After entering the All-Star break tied for first place in the Eastern Conference, the Chicago Bulls’ prolonged second-half struggles have seen them fall in the standings as they endure their worst stretch of the season heading into the playoffs.

Chicago locked itself into the No. 6 seed in the East on Friday night, following a 133-117 loss to the Charlotte Hornets in which the Bulls trailed by as many as 37 points at the United Center. It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Bulls, all at home, all by double-digits and all to playoff teams in the East.

The home crowd booed the Bulls as they entered the locker room trailing by 28 points during Chicago’s final regular-season home game on Friday.

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“They should,” Bulls star Zach LaVine said after the game. “It’s embarrassing. We’re a really good basketball team, and we’re not playing like it. They know that. We know that. It’s understandable. We understand that they have our back, but we got to play better.”

When asked to describe the mood in the locker room, LaVine responded: “Everybody is upset, man. We’re getting our ass kicked.”

“They just jumped on us,” LaVine said. “We singing the same story, and I always try to be very uplifting and try to see the bright side, but I’m tired of talking. We say a lot of words and we say the right thing, but we got to figure it out. We’re not doing that, plain and simple.”

Since the All-Star break, the Bulls are 7-15. During that span, they rank 27th in offensive efficiency and 25th in defensive efficiency, compared to 4th and 20th, respectively, before the break. The Bulls are the only team in the Eastern Conference playoff field with a negative point differential.

“It’s just one of those tests we wish we would’ve had earlier in the season,” Bulls star DeMar DeRozan said after the game. “We had so much success so quick, so fast that I knew at some point we were going to have to deal with this type of adversity. You never want it at the end of the road.

“It’s kind of like, going through high school, you getting all A’s as a freshman, sophomore. Then as a junior and senior year, you get AP classes and that s— is extremely hard. But now you’ve just got to buckle down and kind of put the extra work in. Studying. You’ve got to take it to that next level if you really want to — if you want to go to Yale.”

Bulls coach Billy Donovan took his share of responsibility for Friday’s loss, saying he did not explain coverages with enough clarity earlier that day at shootaround, which forced him to burn a timeout about 90 seconds into the game. Charlotte made its first 11 field goals on Friday, the longest streak by any team to start a game this season, according to Elias.

But there was plenty of blame to go around.

“They attacked us,” DeRozan said. “We couldn’t guard them. They had their way.”

The Bulls were without guard Alex Caruso (back) on Friday, and Donovan said the team would discuss whether he would play in Sunday’s regular-season finale in Minnesota. LaVine was also not sure whether he would play against the Timberwolves as he continue to manage a knee injury that has hampered him for the entire second half.

However, regardless of Sunday’s outcome, the Bulls are locked into the No. 6 seed and could face either Milwaukee, Boston or Philadelphia. Chicago is a combined 1-10 against those three teams this season, with its lone win coming against the Celtics on Nov. 1.

“We just got to do a better job because it’s right around the corner,” LaVine said of the playoffs. “We can’t let this happen. It’s embarrassing.”

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It’s hard to fathom this was the top team in the Eastern Conference at one point — not just for a game or two but for weeks.

It’s hard to remember the point in the season when veteran forward DeMar DeRozan was seen as a top-three contender for the MVP Award, with late-game heroics almost nightly.

It’s hard to process that the Bulls had one of the grimiest defenses in the NBA out of the gate last fall — disruptive and tenacious.

So much has changed, and so quickly. And Friday’s performance — a 133-117 loss to the visiting Hornets — continued to make the good memories more forgettable.

The Bulls, who are playoff-bound for the first time in five years, had one of the most embarrassing first halves in recent team history — and, yes, that includes the Jim Boylen era — trailing 79-51 at intermission. To say they looked to be sleepwalking on defense through most of the first half would be unfair to sleepwalking.

The Hornets hit their first 11 shots to start the game, led by LaMelo Ball — the younger brother of sidelined Bulls guard Lonzo Ball — who had 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting in the first quarter, including 3-for-3 from three-point range. The Bulls (45-36) allowed 39 points in the first quarter and 40 in the second, at one point falling behind by 31. They looked defenseless against three-pointers, in the paint and against dunks.

With the Raptors’ come-from-behind win over the Rockets, the Bulls team now have the No. 6 seed in the East. DeRoza looked exhausted from carrying the load most of the season. The defense? What defense?

Coach Billy Donovan, obviously not thrilled with the latest performance, fell on his sword. He said he went over all the defensive coverages he wanted against the Hornets during the Bulls’ morning shootaround but must not have been clear enough in relaying the information to his players.

“I don’t blame them at all,” Donovan said. “I blame myself.”

Admirable, but not accurate.

“Am I saying the whole game is on me? No, I’m not saying that at all,” Donovan continued. “This is my truth. In sitting there and watching the game, what we covered, we did not do well enough. I feel that is my responsibility. I’m always going to look at myself.”

But this was bigger than just a slip-up against the Hornets (42-39). The Bulls have now lost four straight with one game left in the regular season, after struggling against elite teams this season. Now they are simply struggling against anyone.

“We got our [butt] beat, simple as that,” DeRozan said. “They attacked us. We couldn’t guard them. They had their way. It sucks, but that’s what happened.

“We’re getting to a place where you’ve got to get over it. It’s gonna have to click. You have to understand the moment of what we’re going into. This is on us. We’re the ones that are out there, the players.”

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The Bulls doctors still have no idea how long it’s going to take for the discomfort in Lonzo Ball’s left knee to fully subside since the point guard was officially ruled out for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign on Wednesday, but they do know where he’s going to be.

According to coach Billy Donovan, the immediate plan was for Ball to stay with the team for as long as the season goes on, continuing a rehab program throughout.

What seemed to be ruled out, however, was Ball undergoing another surgery.

“I have not heard anything or no one has told anything to me that he will need another surgery,” Donovan said on Friday. “So I don’t necessarily believe that is going to take place. What they’ve talked to me about is right now he is doing some training. Trying to get him ramped up to play again, that’s kind of off the table, and the main focus really is how do we get rid of his knee pain and discomfort? Obviously strengthening him, getting him stronger, all those types of things. I’m not sure if anyone knows how long that will take.”

Ball last played in a game back on Jan. 14, when a bone bruise forced him into street clothes. A second look also showed that the meniscus needed to be repaired, so Ball underwent surgery. The original timetable was a six-to-eight week window, but as that window was opened, further pain continued in the running part of the rehab process.

It was determined that it was in fact the bone bruise that was causing the pain, so Ball was backed up off the sprinting and cutting several times. Then last month, they gave him a full 10-day pause to let the bruise rest and hopefully heal.

When they attempted to ramp Ball up once again earlier this week, however, the pain was still there. That’s when medical and Ball made the decision to simply shut him down for the rest of the season.

In losing Ball, the Bulls not only had a huge hole on the defensive end, but he was one of their better three-point shooters, as well as the sparkplug in the transition game with his ability to pass the ball.

That’s why it will be key in making sure the knee is strengthened this summer, so that he will be at full strength for as many offseason workouts as he can make.

Land of giants

The numbers have been ugly when Donovan has played Tristan Thompson and Nikola Vucevic at the same time, but that doesn’t mean the coach won’t experiment with that duo in the postseason.

He recalled a similar situation in his Oklahoma City days when Steven Adams and Enes Kanter analytically had some bad moments in the regular season, but were very effective in the playoffs against San Antonio.

That’s why Donovan doesn’t want to rule out giving Thompson and Vucevic another look.

“Besides looking at the numbers, you’ve got to look at the film to determine,” Donovan said. “It wasn’t like those two [Kanter and Adams] didn’t play well together. We had to get things in place so that it was a little more cohesive.”

Back-to-back

Alex Caruso was again out with a bad back on Friday, with the Bulls doing all they can to make sure their best defensive player will be as healthy as possible for the postseason. That doesn’t mean Caruso will be 100%, however.

“He still has some mobility issues, discomfort,” Donovan said. “I think the biggest thing for him is to get back and healthy. He’s been hampered with the back for some time now.”

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As Opening Day approached, Willson Contreras’ sixth with the Cubs, the catcher told his wife he got chills thinking about it.

“Once I stepped out there, I was almost tearing up,” he said after the Cubs’ win against the Brewers on Thursday. “This place is so special to me that I will always keep it in my heart.”

Contreras left unsaid the reality that Thursday may have been his last Opening Day with the Cubs. He’s in his last year of club control, and there’s been no movement on the contract extension front. Contreras said he didn’t want extension talks to drag into the season, but he left the door open for a deal at the end of the year.

Or the Cubs could trade him at the deadline. Or he could hit free agency. Or both.

As a policy, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer doesn’t comment on possible contract extensions. But he did say that the two parties’ inability to avoid arbitration “has nothing to do with anything long term.” Contreras and the Cubs are headed to an in-season arbitration hearing to determine his salary this year.

If Contreras doesn’t sign a contract extension, he’s projected to be the best all-around catcher in next year’s free agent class. And he only started catching about a decade ago, after the Cubs brought him into the organization as a third baseman.

“He looks so natural, he looks like he was born to play that position,” Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks said. “… You would never know that he was just getting started.”

The now-infamous story goes: Contreras was bored one day in 2011 during instructional league play. He spotted a set of catcher’s gear, so he put it on and headed for the bullpen. Oneri Fleita, the Cubs’ vice president of player personnel at the time, spotted him. The rest is history.

But it was more than just the positional transition.

“I was willing to put the work in, willing to listen, willing to learn, and that makes me proud,” Contreras said in a conversation with the Sun-Times this week. “Especially coming from a hometown [in Venezuela] where I didn’t know the language, I only knew Spanish. I had to learn the language, the culture. And all of that makes me proud and makes me happy.”

Now, Contreras is a World Series champion and two-time All-Star. In 2020, he was a Gold Glove finalist. In the first two weeks of spring training camp, Contreras made a strong enough impression on Marcus Stroman for the new Cubs pitcher to say, “He is this organization.”

Aside from the late arbitration dates, the Cubs went through something similar with Kris Bryant, Javy Baez and Anthony Rizzo last year, as they all faced impending free agency. The Cubs traded all three. But Bryant said Contreras didn’t need any advice on how to handle the situation.

”He’s going to go out there and play with heart and passion, and I’m sure he won’t even think about it the whole year,” Bryant said. “That’s just who Willson is. That’s why he’s fun to play with.”

All spring, Contreras fielded questions about his contract and trade rumors. And he did so with a coy smile on his face and a “whatever happens, happens” air about him.

“I don’t know that even I’ve seen him in such a good place since I’ve been here,” Cubs manager David Ross said during spring training. “He seems eager to lead, to set an example. He understands he’s gonna make a lot of money either way, I think. And the details get worked out. His job is just go play. Can’t control any of those extra factors.”

Contreras hasn’t always had this laissez faire attitude about his status with the team. When his name first began to pop up in trade rumors a few years ago, he said he took them personally. Now, he takes them as a compliment.

“We shouldn’t take it personal because it’s a business,” Contreras said. “And nowadays it seems more like a business than a sport. There’s a lot of situations – not only from this team, from different teams – that tell you that this is a business, this is not a sport at some point. It can go from fun to frustrating. But like I said, I’m not taking anything personal. And as a business, they’re going to do whatever they think is best for the team.”

Contreras didn’t seem to be dwelling on any of that as game time approached Thursday. He made sure to take in Wrigley Field, with his family in the stands and full capacity allowed at the Cubs’ home opener for the first time in three years.

“When I stepped out there, the fans went crazy,” Contreras said after the game. “My emotions were floating.”

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DETROIT — Hey, guess what, everybody?

The White Sox are one game into the season, and already alarm bells are clanging like there’s no tomorrow. Code red! This is not a drill.

How is a team supposed to coast to another division championship when all its pitchers are busy being hurt or blowing leads or watching the other team mob ex-Cub Javy Baez?

Not to be melodramatic, but has anybody tested the Emergency Broadcast System? After seeing a three-run Opening Day lead evaporate against the Tigers — who eventually won 5-4 on Baez’s fly ball over A.J. Pollock’s glove and off the wall in the ninth — the Sox have a crisis on their hands.

Or do they?

“I didn’t think he got it that well, but it just kept going,” Hendriks said of Baez’s high fly, which Pollock could’ve caught and which scored Austin Meadows from third. “It is what it is. We work toward [Saturday] and now we go 161-1.

Wow, 161-1 sounds great. Then again, it sounded great a year ago when Sox relievers talked about going 90-0 and looked great when they wore T-shirts boasting “The ‘Pen Is Mighty.”

“I don’t expect us to lose a game if we’re leading after the fifth inning,” lefty Aaron Bummer said then.

You won’t believe this, but it didn’t work out that way. The Sox bullpen ended up struggling early before settling somewhere in between top-notch and middle-of-the-road.

But by the looks of things already, this season is going to challenge and stress the bullpen far more. What, you want evidence to back up that claim? No problem, although it’s hard to know where to begin.

First, the starters: Lance Lynn, who probably would’ve gotten the ball Friday instead of Lucas Giolito if he were healthy, likely will be out a couple of months after undergoing right knee surgery. Giolito is a question mark after leaving the opener four scoreless innings because of tightness in his abdomen. Michael Kopech isn’t close to fully stretched out yet, and who knows if Dallas Keuchel has a bounce-back season in him after such a disappointing 2021?

The bullpen already was going to need to do heavier-than-usual lifting even before Garrett Crochet was shut down for Tommy John surgery and Ryan Burr went on the injured list. Have you heard newcomer Joe Kelly is weeks away from being ready to pitch? Of course you have. Don’t you miss Craig Kimbrel like crazy? Of course you don’t. But you might sooner than you think.

So many relief innings coming right up, so little in the way of relievers the Sox know for sure they can count on.

“It’s the way it’s going to be,” manager Tony La Russa said. “But the biggest thing is how many times can you bring them back? We put a lot into that game. So [there are] a couple of guys who won’t pitch [Saturday].”

The Sox might be able to hit their way through a stretch of pitching troubles, but what if the bats don’t sizzle from the get-go? April could get messier than expected.

“That’s what we’re here for,” Hendriks said. “We’re the janitors. We come in and clean up everybody else’s crap. That’s our job right now. We need to just suck it up and [endure] whatever we need to get into a situation where the starters will pick us up later in the year.”

But what a rough beginning. With the Sox ahead 3-0 in the sixth, Kyle Crick, fresh off a terrific spring, hit Robbie Grossman with a pitch and walked Austin Meadows. One out later, free-agent prize Kendall Graveman made his Sox debut and gave up a run-scoring single to Jeimer Candelario. A second run would’ve scored if Candelario hadn’t been ruled out for runner’s interference on Miguel Cabrera’s ground ball.

In the eighth, with one out and Bummer in, Grossman singled, Meadows walked and Baez singled to load the bases. Cabrera eventually tied it off Hendriks with a two-out, two-run hit on the first pitch.

“Exactly where I wanted it,” Hendriks said, “up and in off the plate, and he broke his bat and it just landed in there.”

Eric Haase’s homer in the ninth — on Hendriks’ eighth straight fastball in a gripping confrontation — just landed in the bleachers in left to tie it, setting the table for a Meadows triple and Baez’s heroics.

“I’ve just got to make better pitches,” Hendriks said. “I’ve got to make better pitch selection. And that’s something that needs to happen really quickly.”

Is that a warning siren in the distance? Is the bunker stocked with provisions? Oh, no!

Or maybe the Sox just had a really bad first day at work. We’ll see about that.

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DETROIT — The reaction was universal wherever White Sox passion existed on Opening Day Friday.

You’ve got to be kidding.

About Lucas Giolito’s injury. And about the way the bullpen failed to protect multiple leads against the Tigers in a 5-4 loss.

Three days after Lance Lynn (knee) and Garrett Crochet (elbow) had surgery and one day after Yoan Moncada joined them on the injured list with an oblique strain, Lucas Giolito left his start against the Tigers at Comerica Park with abdominal tightness in his left side.

“Well I’m concerned because knowing him he won’t want to come out,” manager Tony La Russa said. “[You have to] drag him out of there. I’m concerned because he felt something … so it’s really, we got a lot riding on him getting checked and seeing what it is.”

Giolito had pitched four scoreless innings and everything seemed fine before Bennett Sousa trotted in from center field to open the Tigers fifth with the Sox leading 3-0. Then came word that Giolito was hurt.

It’s the latest injury to a pitching staff that has opened the season with Lance Lynn, Garrett Crochet and Ryan Burr on the injured list. Lynn, who had knee surgery to repair a tendon on Tuesday, had been the likely choice to start the opener. Instead, Giolito started his third straight opener.

The Sox said Giolito is being further evaluated. He threw 66 pitches.

Evaluation of the Sox bullpen after Sousa was simple — not good — after the Tigers rallied to win 5-4 on new Tiger Javy Baez’ game-winning single off AJ Pollock’s glove and right field wall scoring Austin Meadows, who had tripled against Liam Hendriks with two out in the ninth. Eric Haase’s homer tied it two batters before Meadows’ triple.

Andrew Vaughn’s homer in the ninth broke a tie.

The Sox led 1-0 on Eloy Jimenez’ RBI single in the first inning that scored Jose Abreu and added two runs in the second on an RBI single by leadoff hitter AJ Pollock and RBI double by Luis Robert. It was the 500th run scored of Pollock’s career.

Giolito was replaced by lefty Bennett Sousa, who pitched a perfect fifth in his major league debut.

Right-hander Kyle Crick, making his Sox debut, hit Robbie Grossman and walked Austin Meadowns to open the sixth. After Baez flied out to deep left, Kendall Graveman replaced Crick and gave up a single to Jeimer Candelario for the Tigers’ first run.

With runners on the corners, Graveman escaped by getting the slow footed Miguel Cabrera to hit into a double play, but it took an interference call on Candelario rolling into second baseman Josh Harrison to make it happen.

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DETROIT — White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito left his Opening Day start against the Tigers with abdominal tightness in his left side.

Giolito pitched four scoreless innings, allowing two walks and a hit while striking out six. He left with a 3-0 lead.

It’s the latest injury to a pitching staff that has opened the season with Lance Lynn, Garrett Crochet and Ryan Burr on the injured list. Lynn, who had knee surgery to repair a tendon on Tuesday, had been the likely choice to start the opener. Instead, Giolito started his third straight opener.

The Sox said Giolito is being further evaluated. He threw 66 pitches.

The Sox also put third baseman Yoan Moncada on the IL with an oblique strain Thursday.

The Sox led 1-0 on Eloy Jimenez’ RBI single in the first inning that scored Jose Abreu and added two runs in the second on an RBI single by leadoff hitter AJ Pollock and RBI double by Luis Robert. It was the 500th run scored of Pollock’s career.

Giolito was replaced by lefty Bennett Sousa, who pitched a perfect fifth in his major league debut.

Right-hander Kyle Crick, making his Sox debut, hit Robbie Grossman and walked Austin Meadowns to open the sixth. After Javy Baez flied out to deep left, Kendall Graveman replaced Crick and gave up a single to Jeimer Candelario for the Tigers’ first run.

With runners on the corners, Graveman escaped by getting the slow footed Miguel Cabrera to hit into a double play, but it took an interference call on Candelario rolling into second baseman Josh Harrison to make it happen.

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I was glad I was sitting when I read a quote from a Blackhawks official in the Sun-Times the other morning. Glad, also, that I didn’t have any cereal in my mouth.

“Our tickets are too expensive,” said Jamie Spencer, the Hawks’ vice president of revenue.

That’s a head-exploding statement from a high-ranking employee of a professional sports franchise, an enterprise whose main goal, besides winning a championship, is making as much money as possible. And I’m guessing that money is the reason for being for any person with the title of vice president of revenue, the way oxygen might be a big deal for the senior director of breathing.

But more amazing than the quote is that it was in response to what the Hawks recently announced – that, after listening to fans, they were indeed lowering ticket prices on 84% of the seats at the United Center. The reductions are expected to be modest, though some tickets could be cut by as much as 20%.

The stated reason behind the markdown is that, with the organization about to go through a rebuild, at least a few years of losing are sure to ensue. And team officials, after listening to fans during months of research, realized that that wasn’t going to fly if they wanted to keep the arena stocked with money carrying human beings. Attendance already had been dipping. So it’s not as if the Hawks are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.

Plenty of fans were disgusted with the way the team ignored the sexual assault of one of its top prospects. The scandal and the hit to its once-lofty reputation had to have played a role in the price reduction. But it really doesn’t matter what the rationale for it is.

Teams talk a good game about loving their fans, but they often treat them like pack mules whose sole purpose is to transport saddlebags of cash to corporate coffers. The Cubs are embarking on their second rebuild in about a decade yet still have one of the highest prices in baseball for “game-day experience.” According to Time2Play, an online gambling site, the average price of a general-admission ticket, parking, two beers and a hot dog at Wrigley Field in 2021 was $110.17. If you’re going to a game, I pray you don’t have a family of six.

Whatever happens with the Bears and a stadium, whether it be a new facility in Arlington Heights or a better deal at Soldier Field, you can bet all you’re worth that you’ll be paying a ton more for tickets in the future. That’s just the way it is. Kings make plans. Loyal subjects fund those plans.

If a team is going through a rebuild – and that’s been all the rage the past 10 to 20 years in American professional sports – fans should be protected. Athletes have agents. Collectively, they have unions that bargain for them against the big, bad owners. But fans have nobody. Doesn’t seem quite fair, does it?

They do, of course, have the ultimate power. They can decide not to attend games. Some Hawks fans have taken their money and stayed home. But most fans can’t help themselves. They want to be where the action is. Franchises count on that urge.

If fans understood the weight they carried, if they understood that all they had to do was click their ruby slippers together, they might get teams to knock it off with the highway robbery. But if you’ve seen the giddiness people bring to a stadium on game day, you know how magnetic the draw is. Maybe you’ve felt it. I mentioned earlier that fans need to be protected. They need to be protected from themselves, too.

Six years after winning a World Series that ended a century plus of fruitlessness, the Cubs should still be the toast of Chicago. But they’re not. They thought they had a lifetime license to print money. They continue to think that, even as they slash their player payroll and settle in for a few more years of planned losing.

Now, I realize that lowering ticket prices is good PR for a team. The Cubs had a price decrease for some seats this season, and I’d like to think it’s because they realized that the perception of them as money-grubbing is the main perception of them these days. But I don’t recall anyone in the organization uttering the words, “Our tickets are too expensive.” There’s a decent chance that would be punishable by death.

Maybe the Cubs should hire whatever research firm the Hawks used. They’d find out the same thing: Fans are angry.

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DETROIT — Jake Burger was with Triple-A Charlotte when he got a phone call Wednesday as it became apparent Yoan Moncada (oblique strain) was headed to the IL.

“It’s crazy,” Burger said Friday morning before starting at third base for the White Sox against the Tigers on Opening Day. “We opened up in Norfolk [Tuesday], and how many guys can say they played Triple-A Opening day and then MLB Opening Day in the same year? So that’s really exciting.”

Even more exciting was Burger, batting ninth, dropping a two-out double into the right field corner to start a two-run second inning. He scored on a single to right by AJ Pollock, who scored on a double to left by Luis Robert, giving the Sox and right-hander Lucas Giolito a 3-0 lead.

Burger might get two starts in the series with two Tigers lefties starting, La Russa said.

Cease in good place

Saturday starter Dylan Cease enters the 2022 season in a good place.

Cease said he found the feel for his pitches after about 10 days into spring training, liked how his fastball worked, was hitting his spots with his curve and said his changeup was “the best it’s ever been.”

Which is saying a lot. Cease’s fastball, curve, slider arsenal is among baseball’s best, stuff wise. And his changeup has been a plus pitch, too.

Lance Lynn’s injury moved Cease up one spot in the rotation, and as some predict he’ll be the Sox’ best starter this year, Cease said he’s putting no extra burden on himself to shoulder the burden of the team losing Lynn.

“I just try to be the best version of myself every time I pitch,” Cease said. “That is always what I try to live up to.”

Memorable openers

Left-handers Tanner Banks and Bennett Sousa both experienced being in a major league uniform and Opening Day all at once for the first time. It was something Banks had to wonder if it would ever happen. He is 30, after all.

“I’m still shocked,” Banks said, standing at his locker in the visitors clubhouse at Comerica Park Friday.

Banks said he FaceTimed his wife to share the news Tuesday and broke down crying as the call was going through. Manager Tony La Russa gave him the news after the final Cactus League game.

“It was cool,” he said. “We were sitting on the bench, going over the outing. And Tony came over and looked at Ethan [Katz], looked at myself and said, ‘Do you want to tell him or should I?’ ”

Sousa’s family made the trip to Detroit. His parents were his first call when he got the news.

“There was crying on the phone,” he said.

Sousa was informed by the general manager.

“Mr. Hahn told me I was coming to the big leagues,” Sousa said. “All the coaches were there, [assistant general manager] Chris Getz, it was a cool, exciting moment.”

Sousa was drafted in the 18th round by the Sox in 2018 and Banks was taken by the Sox in x.

Lefty Garrett Crochet having Tommy John surgery and the expanded Opening Day rosters opened the windows for the pair of lefties.

This and that

The Sox’ one-year, $4.2 million deal for veteran right-hander Johnny Cueto is close to being official. He just arrived in Arizona, where he’ll face hitters before going to Triple-A Charlotte and likely ramp up with four or five outings.

*Yoan Moncada and Joe Kelly will need rehab stints in Charlotte before they return. Kelly (biceps nerve) has a sim game slated this weekend in Arizona, with a Charlotte target at the end of the month. Moncada’s expected return from his oblique strain is three weeks the Sox say, and that includes getting at-bats in games at Charlotte.

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Game 2 of the Cubs’ season will have to wait.

The Cubs announced their afternoon game against the Brewers on Friday at Wrigley Field has been postponed due to inclement weather. It’s scheduled to be made up on Monday, May 30, when the Brewers come back to town for a three-day series.

The first game of the series was originally scheduled for 1:20 p.m. on May 30, but it will be moved up to 12:05 p.m. The makeup game is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. The Cubs will require separate tickets for each game.

The postponement pushes back the Cubs’ rotation by a day. Left-hander Justin Steele, who was originally scheduled to start Friday, is set to take the mound Saturday. Right-hander Marcus Stroman’s Cubs debut has been moved to Sunday.

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