Chicago Sports

GLENDALE, Ariz. — While the White Sox stand pat, at least for now and perhaps longer than you might like, the AL Central gets better around them.

Carlos Correa’s addition to the Twins was a stunning attention grabber, and the Sox clubhouse took notice. And while the presence of a $35 million a year shortstop, arguably the best in the game, doesn’t make the Twins the Sox’ equal on paper — pitching still rules — it makes the defending AL Central Division champion Sox’ work a little more challenging 19 more times this season.

“Definitely a shock,” Keuchel, a former teammate of Correa said.

“He took that leadership role and ran with it is nothing short of one of the best players on the field if not the league. He’s going to make an immediate impact.”

The Sox see improvement not just from the Twins, but from all four division rivals.

“There’s different dynamics in the Central,” Sox closer Hendriks said. “The Twins made some moves to get better. Detroit’s done the same thing. We’ve done the same thing.”

“The Central will be more competitive,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said.

The Sox have added Kendall Graveman and Joe Kelly to the bullpen and replaced Cesar Hernandez with Josh Harrison at second base. If Sox players want to see general manager Rick Hahn add another starting pitcher such as Sean Manaea in a trade or left-handed hitting outfielder Michael Conforto in a dwindling free-agent market, they’re not saying publicly.

“You’re going to get in trouble as a player if you try to play GM,” Hendriks said. “We’re not going to request a player, it’s not going to end well. You take what you can. But I do know when you make moves in the middle of the season it can completely change the attitude in the clubhouse. But in the offseason you let it play as it is.”

The Sox right now have enough to win the Central. They might not have enough to beat the Dodgers in the World Series, though. But they could be in a better position to assess that before the July 31 trade deadline.

“Sure, there’s always moves you can make but you run out the first 80 games and say, ‘OK we have deficiencies here or there let’s see what we can address and push the needle the most,’ ” Hendriks said. “From all the conversations we’ve had with the front office, this is our time, this is our window.

“Our job is to get ready for the season and it’s theirs, too, whether it’s with the current guys we got or a couple different pieces they add. You trust in them to have the interest of winning a championship.”

Hendriks knows this: When he was on the Blue Jays in 2015, Troy Tulowitzki, David Price and LaTroy Hawkins were added at the deadline and the clubhouse was floating on air.

“We walked in that day and you would have thought we hadn’t lost a game all year and we were a .500 team,” he said.

Hendriks also said any addition would have to fit in. He likes that the Sox front office checks with players about how targeted players would mesh in the clubhouse.

“It’s refreshing knowing they actually [care] about the clubhouse vibe,” Hendriks said. “You can have the best lineup in the world but if they don’t mesh well you’re never going to win. A championship team will always be a team of champions.”

Correa will fit in with the Twins and make them better but he is “just one more guy we have to get out,” Keuchel said. “But we have a really good staff and I’ll take our guys against anybody.

“It’s going to be a competitive division. There are going to be two or three teams at the end that are going to duke it out but I like our chances.”

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Can the Bulls beat the Celtics?

Wait, make that the 76ers.

Wait, make that the Bucks.

No, sorry, the Heat.

The Bulls will face one of those teams in the first round of the playoffs. No question about it, they will be underdogs. Their shoddy play of late — and all season against the strongest opponents — has seen to that.

In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter, we asked if you’d bet on or against the Bulls to make it to the second round. In what shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, most who voted would not.

“You cannot win with a 6-5 power forward and no backup point guard,” @RonaldVoigt4 commented.

Hey, is it Javonte Green’s fault he isn’t a whole lot taller?

We also asked if the White Sox should pony up with a long-term contract extension for veteran righty Lucas Giolito — who hasn’t exactly loved his offseason dealings with the front office — and how new general manager Ryan Poles is faring on the rebuilding-the-Bears front. On to the polls:

Poll No. 1: If you had to bet right now, would you bet on or against the Bulls to reach the second round of the playoffs?

Upshot: What the heck, let’s let the good-vibers have their say. From @JBIRD1268: “If they can get over their fear of beating quality teams, they can go far.” And from @DeyoSahler: “Crunch-time scoring is crucial in the playoffs, and the Bulls have two of the league’s best options. I’m optimistic they’ll win at least one round.” We’re sure DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine appreciate the vote of confidence.

Poll No. 2: Should the White Sox commit to pitcher Lucas Giolito, who will be eligible for free agency in 2023, with a long-term deal?

Upshot: “Pay the man!” @Marie_Manning demanded, capturing the essence of what a large majority of Sox fans seem to be feeling. Giolito has ascended dramatically since coming to the South Side, but eventually the Sox will have to decide if they regard him as an ace — in the truest, fullest sense of the term — or not quite.

Poll No. 3: What’s your impression of new Bears general manager Ryan Poles based on his personnel moves so far?

Upshot: A whole bunch of pretty big names — Khalil Mack, Allen Robinson (and that’s just getting started) — have left the building. A whole bunch more are entering the Bears picture. Poles and his team are doing a lot of tinkering, which one supposes was the whole idea. “A nice, measured approach,” @JeffreyCanalia wrote. But @doczzt is more skeptical: “Poles may not be as good as the Chicago sports media portrayed him.” Dang media!

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For many years, the late Lord Harold Samuel, a real estate tycoon in Great Britain, was credited with coining the expression, “There are three things that matter in property: location, location, location.”

In 2009, political pundit and linguist William Safire investigated this for the New York Times. His research brought him to Fred Shapiro, editor of “The Yale Book of Quotations,” who found a 1926 real estate classified ad in the Chicago Tribune: “Attention salesmen, sales managers: location, location, location, close to Rogers Park.” This means Lord Samuel would have had to have said this when he was just 14. Chicago wins.

Good luck on the quiz — and with your Elite Eight bracket.

1. Seiya Suzuki feels like a great addition for the Cubs and Chicago baseball. Last season for Hiroshima, Suzuki hit .317 with 38 home runs and 88 RBI in 134 games. What is the nickname of the Hiroshima team?

a. Hiros

b. Carp

c. Dragons

d. White Fish

2. While we are in the Far East, which of the following players was not born in Japan?

a. Don Wakamatsu

b. Dave Roberts

c. Kenta Maeda

d. Koji Uehara

3. Chicago has the Cubs and the White Sox. Since 1901, which of the following cities has not had two teams, at the same time or otherwise? (There could be more than one correct answer.)

a. Boston

b. Milwaukee

c. Seattle

d. St. Louis

e. They all have had two teams

4. Chicago White Sox. Chicago Cubs. Simple, right? How many of the location names can you give me for the Angels?

5. Where is Ernie Banks Drive located?

a. Dallas, Texas

b. Peoria, Illinois

c. El Paso, Texas

d. Kansas City, Missouri

6. Legendary tennis great Billie Jean King is part of the ownership group for a team in which city?

a. New York

b. Los Angeles

c. San Diego

d. San Francisco

7. Who wasn’t a major-league player?

a. Denver LeMaster

b. Orlando Cepeda

c. Bayamon Baez

d. Austin Jackson

8. Illinois Route 24, beginning at the intersection of South Adams Street and Route 24 in Bartonville and ending at the intersection of Griswold Street and Route 24 in Peoria, is named after which ballplayer?

a. Gary Gaetti

b. Jim Thome

c. Kirby Puckett

d. Paul Konerko

9. What four teams are named for the states, not the city, in which they’re located? If I gave you four choices, I’d give away the answer (New York refers to the city, not the state).

ANSWERS

1. Hiroshima Carp. Or, to be fully correct, the Hiroshima Toyo Kapu.

2. Don Wakamatsu was born in Hood River, Oregon; Dave Roberts was born in Okinawa, Japan.

3. Boston has had the Red Sox and Braves; Milwaukee has had the Braves and Brewers; Seattle has had the Pilots and Mariners; and St. Louis has had the Browns and Cardinals. E is your only correct answer.

4. Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Anaheim Angels and California Angels (and I’m never sure what to call them).

5. Ernie Banks Drive is in the Cooperstown section of El Paso. It’s located between Roger Maris Drive and Sandy Koufax Drive.

6. The Guggenheim Baseball Management group is made up of 10 people, two of whom, including Billie Jean King, are owners of the Dodgers. King’s brother Randy Moffitt pitched for the Giants.

7. I made up Bayamon Baez, but Bayamon is where Javy Baez was born in Puerto Rico. I hope you noticed that Austin Jackson’s name features two state capitals.

8. Jim Thome Drive can be found in Bartonville, Illinois. Now you just have to find Bartonville.

9. In the American League, the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers. In the National League, the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Write to me. Tweet at me. Have a good week.

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LAS VEGAS — We discussed the Dodgers being -500 in some games and his affinity for the Brewers and Phillies. He bemoaned the Red Sox beating his beloved Bronx Bombers to Trevor Story.

Long Island handicapper Tom Barton and I drifted into many topics. Thirty-five minutes later, however, we returned to the conversation starter — Wrigley Field’s inhabitants.

“I can’t believe they went and got Seiya Suzuki,” says Barton. “Shocking. I like it. If you’re a Cubs fan, you got one of the better offseason acquisitions that nobody’s talking about. Wow.”

The 27-year-old Suzuki, a five-time All-Star outfielder in Japan who smacked 177 home runs over his last six seasons, inked a five-year deal worth $85 million — a record pact for a Japanese position player.

A ray of hope, says Barton, after the franchise unsurprisingly dumped Javy Baez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo when last season went south.

With 18 games against divisional bottom-feeders Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, Barton envisions the Cubs as a .500 squad. Informed that Station Casinos’ projected total is 72.5, he pauses.

He estimates the Cubs’ victory range between 75 and 85.

“I’m selling myself on the Cubs now, during this conversation. I don’t think they’ll tank, especially in that division. Over 72.5 makes sense. If everything goes wrong for the Cubs, I [still] think they’re a 75-win team.”

PHILS, BREWERS OVER

Barton salivated one year ago when interest in San Diego soared, after it had acquired three starting pitchers, including Yu Darvish. He distrusted the hype, which he termed “helium.”

The Padres hadn’t won at least 94 games since 1998. Barton hammered Under 93.5 at a sportsbook. He found 94.5 at another shop and doubled down, forming his largest preseason investment.

San Diego finished 79-83.

“Just unreal expectations,” says Barton. “Give me a helium team and I’m going against it all day. Shortstop Fernando Tatis is unbelievably talented, but he’s reckless and a butcher in the field.”

Tatis broke his left wrist in a December motorcycle accident and is out until June. San Diego’s victory total is 90.5 at William Hill, but Barton has invested elsewhere.

A host on the nationally syndicated Sports Garten radio network, his lone bets, so far, have been Phillies Over 84 and Brewers Over 88, which is 94.5 at Stations.

He raves about Philly starters Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, whom he projects as having a Cy Young-type of season. Nola is 30-1 to win that NL award at the Westgate SuperBook.

Plus, outfielder Bryce Harper is coming off his second MVP season.

“Philly is very overlooked,” says Barton. “All I have to do is get to .500? And I get to beat up on the Marlins and Nats in that division? Philly was my number-one bet, Milwaukee number two.”

He favors Brewers starting pitchers Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta. Should outfielder Christian Yelich and first baseman Rowdy Tellez excel, Barton foresees a big campaign.

“If [Yelich and Tellez] click, they could win 100 games. Year after year, the Brewers are overlooked, too. They’re very good, excellent if a few things work their way.”

ELATED ABOUT ELOY

Chicago native Sam Panayotovich took -180 (risk $180 to win $100) at Caesars on the White Sox to win the AL Central, having seen -200 and up at most Vegas sportsbooks.

The New England Sports Network and Fox Sports betting analyst gauges the Sox as having an 80% chance, or -400, “to win the weakest division in baseball,” so paying less than half that represents exceptional value.

“Minus-200 being cheap is the old boxing theory, Let ’em all bet McGregor and I’ll lay it with Mayweather.”

In 2017, Conor McGregor’s rabid fans dumped bricks of cash on the MMA legend, giving pugilist Floyd Mayweather rare value. Money May scored a methodical 10th-round TKO over McGregor in the boxing ring.

Panayotovich also says the Sox are “live” at 6-1 to win the AL pennant. Circa has +475, Stations +500, and William Hill, the South Point and SuperBook are all 6-1.

Sox stars Luis Robert (hip) and Eloy Jimenez (torn pec) missed significant time last season, but Barton believes Jimenez will flourish in 2022.

He is 75-1 to win AL MVP at William Hill, 60-1 at the SuperBook, where he’s also 20-1 to lead baseball in homers.

Says Barton, “If you’re putting money on an MVP coming from this team, while everyone is staring at Robert, I’m staring at Eloy.”

He praises a Sox pitching staff that registered a second consecutive sub-4.00 ERA last season for the first time since 1993-94. SuperBook Cy Young odds on Lance Lynn are 20-1, 10-1 on Lucas Giolito and 50-1 on Dylan Cease.

The lifelong Yankees fan compares the Sox bullpen of Liam Hendriks, Craig Kimbrel, Kendall Graveman and Aaron Bummer to what Mariano Rivera helmed for some scintillating seasons in the Bronx.

However, Barton advises passing on a White Sox win total that’s 95.5 at Stations, 92.5 at William Hill. Chicago has won more than 93 games once, at 99-63 in 2005, since 2000.

“They’re good enough to win 100, but that division can work against you. They could have a lead of eight or 10 games with a week left, then they rest people. You need two wins, and they drop seven of their last nine.

“You barely get there, or you don’t. They just might not be crunched to win that division again.

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PEORIA, Ariz. — Dylan Cease struck out five and walked one in three innings of one-run ball in his first Cactus League start against the Mariners Friday night, an impressive little line score.

But Cease, who led the American League in strikeouts per nine innings last season, said it was nothing special.

“It was an OK first outing,” Cease said. “Nothing super special and it wasn’t horrible. Pretty good.”

Cease, allowed one hit, a liner in the gap that center fielder Yoelqui Cespedes laid out for but couldn’t hold on to, and got two ground-ball outs.

“When I’m on, I’ve got an opportunity to strike guys out,” Cease said. “It was solid today, but the walk to [Clint] Frazier was pretty upsetting and there were a couple of at-bats where I thought I kind of made some poor pitches later in the at-bat.”

Cease touched 98 mph on the stadium gun.

“I definitely like strikeouts,” Cease said.” Ideally, it’s a quick inning of strikeouts. Pretty much trying to fill up the zone and usually if I fill up the zone, I have a good chance of striking people out.”

The Sox were limited to three hits in a 3-0 loss, two of them singles by Andrew Vaughn. One of Vaughn’s hits was a 112 mph liner that skipped past center fielder Julio Rodriguez for a two-base error. Vaughn is 7 for 14 this spring.

Cespedes threw out Luis Torrens at third base, the second time this spring he has thrown out a runner at third. This time, he threw a strike on the fly to third baseman Jake Burger to get Torrens, who tried to advance on Mike Ford’s fly ball.

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PEORIA, Ariz. — Yermin Mercedes’ transition to left field was temporarily derailed when suffered a hamate fracture in his left hand. Mercedes will be out six-to-eight weeks.

Mercedes, scheduled for surgery Monday in Phoenix, broke the bone trying to check a swing in the sixth inning of Thursday’s Cactus League game against the Giants.

Mercedes was something of a sensation during spring training last season, winning a job and carrying the team offensively as a designated hitter during April, when he was named AL Player of the Month. His production plummeted, however, and he spent the second half of the season at Triple-A Charlotte.

Declaring that he has a new team-first mentality, Mercedes was converted from catcher to left field this spring.

Manager Tony La Russa, who had taken Mercedes to task when he missed a take sign and homered on a 3-0 pitch last season, winced when asked about the injury.

“He’s willing to do whatever,” La Russa said. “He was given serious at-bats because he deserved it. And you look at his average, he had some hits. Sometimes there’s no justice.”

Kelly impressive

Don’t forget about right-hander Joe Kelly. The veteran reliever signed to a two-year, $17 million deal on March 14 is feeling fine and throwing well as he slow-rolls it toward the start of the season.

“I’m impressed with what I see this quickly,” La Russa said after watching Kelly throw off a mound for the second time Friday. “Just figured it would take him more time to get there. Good sign for us.”

Kelly said he is two or three weeks behind other White Sox relievers in his throwing progression toward the regular season. He hopes to be pitching for the Sox by the end of April.

Throwing pain free in camp, Kelly is over a nerve issue in his elbow that bothered him last season. But the Sox, familiar with a similar problem Aaron Bummer dealt with late in the 2020 seasons, are choosing to not rush Kelly into action.

“The ball is coming out good for where they expected it to be, the body is moving a lot quicker,” Kelly said. “We’re just making sure we stay with the game plan and don’t push it.”

The Turk

Right-hander Jason Bilous, who was slated for two innings against the Mariners, was one of three players optioned to minors in the first round of roster cuts. Outfielder Blake Rutherford was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte and Bilous and lefty Yoan Aybar, claimed off waivers from the Yankees Thursday, were optioned to Double-A Birmingham.

Catchers Carlos Perez and Xavier Fernandez, infielder Jose Rodriguez, right-hander Kade McClure and Emilio Vargas and left-hander Hunter Schryver were reassigned to minor-league camp.

Fifty players remain in camp.

This and that

Vince Velasquez gets his second start of the spring when the Sox host the Angels and Shohei Ohtani Saturday in Glendale (3:05 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AM). Ohtani will be the Angels starting pitcher.

*Outfield prospect Micker Adolfo is 6-for-12 with two homers and five RBI in six Cactus League games.

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MESA, Ariz. – Seiya Suzuki felt an adrenaline rush the first time he stepped onto Wrigley Field and saw his name on the scoreboards.

Now, he’s less than two weeks from a return to Wrigley Field, this time with fans packed into the stands and a Cubs logo on his chest. But on Friday, after his spring training debut, Suzuki had a practical concern.

“If I keep on striking out like today,” Suzuki said through his interpreter Toy Matsushita, “someone’s going to throw a beer on me someday.”

Suzuki squeezed his arms to his sides and hunched his shoulders to make his six-foot frame as small as possible.

“If someone throws a beer at me, I’m going to be scrunched up in the corner,” he said with a smile.

Suzuki didn’t have to dodge any beer Friday at Sloan Park, during his first game in a Cubs uniform. As he alluded to, he struck out in both his at-bats. But the Cubs understand that Suzuki, a five-time All-Star and gold glover in Japan’s central league, will have an adjustment period as he transitions into Major League Baseball.

Suzuki drew quite the matchup Friday, facing Rockies All-Star German Marquez in the outfielder’s first game-action at-bats against major-league pitching.

That didn’t change Suzuki’s standards. He headed for the batting cages after exiting the game Friday.

“He’s a hard worker,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “Passion about his craft, works really diligently, loves to hit, loves to be around the field, loves to take care of his body. And then, the personality stuff has really stood out. Super fun.”

Suzuki’s sense of humor translated right away.

Ross could attest to that after a week of being his manager. Ross was eating trail mix in the weight room one day, and Suzuki asked if it was chocolate.

After some back and forth, Ross confirmed that there was, indeed, chocolate in it. Suzuki reached over, rubbed Ross’ belly and said, “Chocolate.”

“If that tells you anything, he’s got a really good way about him,” Ross said. “He’s fit in really nicely.”

Suzuki joined Cubs camp a week ago, after signing a five-year, $85 million contract. He’d had a tentative deal in place with the team days before, but he wanted to see Chicago for himself before putting pen to paper.

During Suzuki’s one-night stay, the Cubs set up a tour of Wrigley Field. Suzuki’s Cubs jersey hung in a locker. An image of him in his batting stance, clad in blue pinstripes, loomed on the video boards.

“The stands on top of the apartments, I’ve never seen that before,” Suzuki said. “That’s something that really struck me.”

Suzuki’s major-league ambitions, however, don’t end with playing at Wrigley Field. Suzuki wants the results too.

“That’s what I’m going to work on,” he said.

By Friday, after a week of taking live at-bats during spring training workouts, Suzuki was ready to get into game action.

Ross said he told Suzuki, “It’s just about getting ready, not trying to prove anything to anybody. You’re a piece here, and a big piece for a long time. So, let’s do things the right way.”

The Sloan Park crowd gave Suzuki a warm ovation when his name boomed over the loudspeakers and he stepped up to the plate for the first time. He gave a subtle wave.

Suzuki struck out looking twice. But he wasn’t passive. He swung at the first two pitches he saw, fouling off the first. And after his second third-strike call, he made his thoughts clear with a hand on the hip and tilt of the head.

“I’m very happy to be able to face [Marquez,] especially in my first two at-bats in the major leagues,” Suzuki said. “Just want to get adjusted.”

He hopped into a golf cart on his way out of the stadium and directed it to the batting cages.

“I got pissed off a little bit,” he explained sheepishly, “from those two unfortunate at-bats.”

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — Michael Kopech struck out Adam Engel looking twice. He threw a pitch to Zack Collins that sailed high off the screen. And he allowed a homer to Triple-A shortstop Zach Remillard. Collins also lined a shot near the wall in left-center field.

It was a mixed bag for Kopech in his first live batting practice Friday on the backfields of Camelback Ranch, where Kopech is preparing to be a full-time major league starter for the first time.

“Trying to fight through some tiredness,” Kopech said. “Tried to gear up and that’s something I don’t really need to do. I have that gear already. It’s getting back in that starter routine and realizing that going back out for the next inning isn’t a bigger inning than the inning before. Just do what you did before.”

Kopech spent most of the 2021 season pitching in relief. A starter for most of his life before that, he’s now getting reacquainted with the nuances of starting, and high expectations as the Sox look to him to replace Carlos Rodon in the rotation.

To hear that Kopech, who had COVID in late February, delaying his throwing progression heading into camp, raised an eyebrow. But Kopech said it had more to do with getting up and down for the first time this spring.

“It’s an adjustment period right now,” he said.

“I had some early sliders that were good pitches but not really competitive just because of where they were located, and I went back out there and was able to put them in more of a competitive spot. Made some good adjustments, some changes from inning to inning, which is kind of the name of the game when you are starting.”

On Wednesday, Kopech will likely make his first start, against the Rangers at Camelback Ranch, leaving him time for two starts before the season opener and lining up his first start of the season for the first home series against the Mariners.

At that progression, it won’t be a seven inning start. In fact, five could be a reach. So it goes when spring training is only three and a half weeks.

“We’re just going to go outing to outing, inning to inning for him and monitor it that way and see how he’s doing, getting feedback between outings,” pitching coach Ethan Katz said. “It’s kind of like Carlos in the sense that, kind of seeing where he’s at and kind of making the right assessment. And maybe it’s a skipped start at some point and somebody else hops in to give him a little breather. We’ll see how he’s doing.”

Katz likes what he’s seen of Kopech’s changeup this spring, which bodes well. His fastball and slider are premium pitches, and enough to survive with in relief. Starting requires an expanded arsenal.

It was a changeup that sailed off the backstop.

“You try not to overthrow but I try to baby it and it slides out of your hand or whatever the case might be,” he said. “But yeah, it’s just those things you’re not happy with because I’ve been in a better spot with that [pitch] coming into today. There are adjustments I need to make and will make going forward.”

Manager Tony La Russa, who seems to not miss a thing roving from field to field, to the hitting cages and all corners of the complex, watched Kopech intently.

“He was better the second inning,” La Russa said. “A little out of whack, he got on it and got better. [The pitchers] just need to throw more.”

As Kopech said, all pitchers are in a unique situation this spring.

“It’s a slow growth,” he said. “So my build up may not be exactly where I want it to be. I may not be able to go into the season at full capacity or whatever you want to call it but I’ll be able to build up fairly quickly.”

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When “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” opened the Metropolitan Opera’s 2021-22 season, it created something of a sensation.

For starters, it was the first opera by a Black composer presented by the New York company, and the cachet of its creators certainly contributed: contemporary jazz legend Terence Blanchard, and librettist Kasi Lemmons, a noted film director and screenwriter.

But more important was the quality of the offering itself. That became readily apparent Thursday evening as Lyric Opera of Chicago opened its gripping take on this 2019 opera, just the second work by a Black composer performed on the company’s main stage.

With a title taken from an evocative phrase in an Old Testament verse, “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” is a sad, harrowing and ultimately redemptive tale based on the best-selling memoir of New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow.

It is a specifically Black story but it is also a universally human story that confronts issues of otherness and psychological trauma, focusing on a “boy of particular grace” in the rural South who struggles desperately to fit in.

Charles is haunted into early adulthood by the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of an older cousin when he is 7 and the shame, anger and loneliness that followed. As the opera opens, he is given an opportunity for bloody revenge. Will he take it? That question hangs menacingly in the air as he looks back at his life.

Lyric’s version of “Fire,” a co-production with the Met and Los Angeles Opera, is co-directed by James Robinson and Camille A. Brown, who deftly give voice to the story’s gritty realism and emotional honesty.

Kudos to the dance scenes, which were originally choreographed by Brown and revived by Jay Staten–the ghostly dance fantasy at the beginning of Act 2 and the high-stomping, show-dance number in the Act 3 college scene.

Allen Moyer’s scenery is simple yet highly effective, relying primarily on transporting black-and-white and color images that are brilliantly deployed by projection designer Greg Emetaz onto three giant screens at the back and sides of the stage and parts of two giant interlocking boxes. At first, the open, barn-wood covered interior of the larger of the two boxes faces the audience with the slightly smaller one inset as its back panel, the whole unit serving as a kind of stage within the stage. Then, the two boxes are constantly rotated and reconfigured, with pieces of furniture and other set pieces added to evocatively set the scenes.

Baritone Will Liverman rises to the vocal and dramatic challenges of the central role of Charles, capturing both the deep pain and quiet toughness of this character and adroitly handling Blanchard’s taut vocal writing.

But as obviously central to this opera as Charles is, much of the story’s emotional heart lies with Billie, his mother, who dominates Act 1. In her Lyric debut, soprano Latonia Moore commands the stage with sure-footed technique, spot-on high notes and nuanced vocal shadings, conveying both Billie’s unstoppable force and poignant disappointments.

Other standouts include Reginald Smith Jr., who makes the most of the minor role of Uncle Paul, with his big, enveloping baritone voice, and tenor Chauncey Packer as Spinner, Billie’s smarmy, two-timing husband.

Opera is a challenging medium because of its collaborative and theatrical nature, but Blanchard, whose Academy Award-nominated compositions were clearly a help, is right at home in this realm.

Steering clear of any avant-garde trappings, he has created a score with depth, complexity and richness. The music, which can be breezy, edgy and tough, is decidedly tonal and classical with a jazz-tinged flair and dashes of gospel and blues along the way.

Blanchard’s most ingenious idea is inserting a kind of jazz quartet into the augmented pit orchestra of nearly 60 musicians, with this foursome functioning much like the continuo in baroque repertoire. Particularly notable is the lively, free-flowing playing of pianist Stu Mindeman and the work of Jeff “Tain” Watts on drum set.

Conductor Daniela Candillari nicely shapes the dramatic flow and emotional contours of this opera and capably handles the changing moods and idiomatic flavor of the music.

Does “Fire” have what it takes to endure? It’s too soon to know. But this is a major, compelling work by one of the most important, new composing voices in opera.

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MESA, Ariz. – The Cubs made 11 spring training camp cuts on Friday, including assigning top prospect Brennen Davis to minor-league camp. Davis was a non-roster invitee.

“He’s made a really good impression,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “Just his movements [in the outfield], he got a lot of at-bats. It’s hard to judge guys off such a short spring training, but you can tell he’s just starting to fill out that body and he looks the part, had a great season last year, and continue to build on that. And hopefully we see him really soon.”

Davis was one of seven non-roster invitees who the Cubs assigned to minor-league camp on Friday, including right-hander Ben Leeper, lefties Conner Menez and Locke St. John, and infielders Dixon Machado, Chase Strumpf and Andy Weber.

The club optioned pitcher Cory Abbott and outfielder Greg Deichmann to Triple-A. Pitchers Brailyn Marquez and Anderson Espinoza are headed to Double-A.

The Cubs also activated right-hander Tommy Nance off the COVID-19 related injured list and designated him for assignment. Nance went from the independent Frontier League to the Cubs’ farm system and made his major-league debut last May at age 30.

He didn’t allow a run in his first 12 appearances but struggled late in the season. Then, a trip to the COVID-19 related IL delayed his start to camp this spring.

After the cuts, the Cubs’ spring training roster stood at 44 players.

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