Is there a better learning tool than trying to get a hit against pitchers such as Chris Bassitt and Jacob deGrom? Or trying to retire Francisco Lindor or Pete Alonso in a late-inning situation?

For many of the Cubs’ youngsters, the final 3 1/2 weeks of the season represent their final chance to improve their stock in front of their evaluators for 2023.

”I think the game is the ultimate teacher, right?” manager DavidRoss said before rookie right-hander Hayden Wesneski allowed a tiebreaking home run to Thairo Estrada in the seventh inning and a two-run shot to Wilmer Flores in the eighth in a 4-2 loss Sunday to the Giants.

Since the middle of May, the Cubs have taken a look at some of their younger players, such as utility man Christopher Morel and outfielder Nelson Velazquez, as well as relievers Manuel Rodriguez and Jeremiah Estrada, to see how much they learn and adjust to help their development.

”The list goes pretty deep,” Ross said before preparing for a three-game series against the Mets and their formidable cast of players starting Monday. ”Information is out as the league adjusts, and it’s our job and their job to adjust back. It’s just that process of experiencing that.

”Christopher stands out the most of what we’ve asked him to do, playing different positions and trying to soak up as much experience and let us look at a lot of different areas for him. He’s done a really nice job of working consistently and trying to have a big-league career.

”I think all of them learn on a daily basis, and I think the successes are so much fun to see. The failures are great learning moments for everyone.”

Morel, 23, made the jump from Double-A Tennessee to the Cubs on May 17 but cooled considerably after an impressive start. He struck out 29 times in 71 at-bats in August, but he was batting .280 with an .890 OPS against relievers and had a weighted runs created plus of 107 (100 is considered average) entering the game Sunday.

The defensive metrics haven’t been kind to Morel in center field and third base, but the Cubs haven’t given up on developing him as a super-utility player.

Morel took over at shortstop, his natural position, in the sixth inning Sunday for Nico Hoerner, who said he relished the opportunity to play short for the final three weeks of 2019 after Javy Baez suffered a hairline fracture of his left thumb.

”It changed everything for me,” Hoerner said. ”Opportunity-wise, having those three weeks gave me a chance to be part of the team. In 2020, who knows? I might have been at the alternate site the entire year. It was incredibly fortunate on my end. Out of my control, but it ended up working out very well and was a special time in my life.”

Rodriguez, 25, had a 6.11 ERA in 20 games in 2021 but didn’t pitch again for the Cubs until Aug. 26 because of a strained right elbow. Opponents’ OPS against Rodriguez has dipped from .816 to .665 and their exit velocity from 86.1 mph to 78.5 mph, according to Fangraphs.

Rodriguez’s pitch selection has been peculiar at times, but the experience will be invaluable.

”You have to live and learn,” veteran left-hander Drew Smyly said. ”You’re going to fail because everyone fails in this game. So I think it’s important to find and build confidence and learn from mistakes and not get down because you have a bad game. Because we’re all going to, especially when you’re young.”

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A 17-year-old boy was critically wounded in a shooting Sunday night in Gresham — the fourth minor wounded by gunfire in less than six hours on the South Side.

About 7:45 p.m., the boy was in the 8400 block of South Parnell Avenue when he was shot in the abdomen and leg, Chicago police said.

He was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition, police said.

Another boy, 14, was wounded in a drive-by shooting around 7:10 p.m. in the 2500 block of West 70th Street, police said. He was hit in the side and buttocks and was taken to Comer in good condition.

A 14-year-old girl was wounded around 4:50 p.m. in a shooting at a home in Gresham, police said. She was shot in the face and taken to Comer in critical condition.

A man with a concealed carry license shot a 13-year-old boy who broke into his car in Bronzeville around 2:35 p.m. The boy was struck in the leg and taken to Comer in an unknown condition, police said.

The spate of violence came just two days after a Chicago Public Schools student was killed in a shooting Friday afternoon near Kenwood Academy High School in Hyde Park. Authorities identified the victim as 17-year-old Kanye Perkins, who lived in the neighborhood where he was slain, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

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Nico Hoerner was a National League Gold Glove finalist at second base in 2020, and he has played similar exceptional defense this season at shortstop.

But with the Cubs having the financial resources to acquire a top-notch free-agent shortstop this winter, the possibility of Hoerner returning to second base hasn’t publicly been ruled out.

Manager David Ross apologized for using the analogy of buying a new car when you don’t need to, but he elaborated on Hoerner’s athleticism and unselfishness.

”We’ve got a really good shortstop here,” Ross said Sunday. ”If something works out where they identify a middle infielder that is of value that they feel fits very well, everybody is on board with that, including myself and Nico.

”Those are good problems to have. We’ll let the front office kind of pick and choose on that.”

Among the top soon-to-be-free-agent shortstops the Cubs could pursue are Xander Bogaerts, Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson and Carlos Correa (if he opts out of his contract with the Twins).

But Hoerner seized the starting shortstop job from the start of spring training and entered play Sunday batting .287 with an 86.8% contact rate and was a plus-12 in defensive runs saved, according to Fangraphs.

The elimination of shifts starting next season will put a premium on range, and Hoerner has played exceptionally well when positioned on the right side of second base.

Madrigal raises winter stakes

After suffering his latest groin injury, second baseman Nick Madrigal declared this winter will represent ”the biggest offseason I’ve had the last couple of years.”

”I’m going to be doing some major changes,” Madrigal said, two days after suffering a mildly strained right groin while running to first base Friday. ”Obviously, my body is out of whack right now. All these injuries popping up. I’ve been talking to some people that are going to help.”

Madrigal spoke last week with Blaine Kinsley, the Cubs’ strength-and-conditioning coach, and he plans to make changes in several areas, including nutrition and strength. Madrigal was batting .283 in 27 games after returning from a strained left groin that sidelined him for nearly two months.

Madrigal, who is on the 10-day injured list, wants to return this season but said he won’t know whether he can until early next week.

”Anytime I’m out there with the guys, I feel like I’ve got things to prove and want to prove,” Madrigal said. ”But I know there’s another side about being smart.”

This and that

Right-hander Albert Alzolay, making his fourth rehab start for Triple-A Iowa, struck out four but allowed a home run in 2? innings in an 11-9 loss at Jacksonville. Alzolay has spent the entire season on the IL because of a strained right shoulder.

o Infielder Matt Mervis hit his 11th home run for Iowa and his 32nd of the season.

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OAKLAND, Calif. — Tony La Russa walked through the visitors clubhouse in Oakland, shaking hands with players. It was the first time around them since he was abruptly told by doctors not to manage the White Sox in a game Aug. 30 against the Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“I had [a heart] issue in spring training, so when they had some information they needed to address, and make it serious enough to where [they said] ‘get out of uniform, you can’t watch the game,’ ” La Russa said Sunday. “So I watched the game at home.”

Since then, the Sox have enjoyed their best stretch of the season, losing that night after bench coach Miguel Cairo took over managerial duties but winning nine of the next 11. La Russa, who reportedly had a pacemaker inserted for his heart, was cleared by doctors to attend Dave Stewart’s uniform retirement ceremony in Oakland and fly to Chicago with the team Sunday night, but not to resume managing.

“Health is nothing to mess with,” said La Russa, who turns 78 in October.

“They fixed it, now it’s a question of regaining strength. So don’t mess with health.

“I’ve had my issue fixed, I’m mending.”

If and when La Russa returns to managing “will depend on the experts,” he said.

“Reading the situation, they ask me how I feel because I do a little more and how do you respond to a little more affects it, so, I think it’s uncertain,” he said. “In the meantime the club will be fun to watch and stay in contention.”

La Russa said “don’t mess with health” but he often says “don’t mess with the baseball gods,” and if the Sox lose Sunday after winning four in a row, he said he wouldn’t go on the plane with the team after seeing them play in person and being in the clubhouse briefly.

La Russa seemed to be kidding but he is serious about trends and jinxes.

“Didn’t I just tell you if we lose I won’t be on the plane?” he said. “You think I’m kidding? I have a car rented, I’m going to drive back slowly.”

While fans have overwhelmingly pushed for the Sox to carry on with Cairo at the helm, La Russa wants to get back in uniform. But “it all depends,” he said.

“I’m here today, fly back with them and off [day] tomorrow. I don’t plan to be in uniform until they say it’s time to be in uniform,” he said. “I don’t know if they [doctors] want me at the park or not. The most important thing for me is you don’t want to be a distraction. I don’t want to be a distraction. That’s why it’s best to let it run its course, and in the meantime they’re concentrating on the game they’re playing.

“If I think I’m being a distraction upstairs like today watching them then I won’t watch them. It’s so simple, it’s ridiculous. It’s not complicated.”

La Russa has watched every game and says he calls Cairo at least twice a day and stays in contact with pitching coach Ethan Katz.

“They’re united, they pick each other up. But exciting games, those two comeback games [Wednesday in Seattle and Saturday in Oakland]. They key is they’re having the fun of contending, so it’s from here to the end now. It’s been fun to watch.”

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OAKLAND, Calif. — Johnny Cueto gave up seven runs over 4 2/3 innings in an unusually poor outing, and the White Sox offense was quieted in a 10-3 trouncing from the Athletics Sunday. The result halted the Sox’ winning streak at four games and prevented a four-game series sweep against the American League’s worst team.

The A’s (51-90) had lost five straight and nine of 10.

The Sox head home feeling satisfied with a 5-2 road trip that began with a series win over the playoff-bound Mariners. The trip included two games of 20-plus hits, a comeback from four runs down against the Mariners and a five-run outburst in the ninth inning Friday that erased a 3-0 A’s lead.

“We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing, keep our heads up and play with a lot of energy,” Cueto said.

“It was outstanding, awesome to see the guys battling every day, coming back from being down,” said acting manager Miguel Cairo, who has guided the Sox to a 9-4 record in manager Tony La Russa’s absence. “We did everything the right right way.”

Not much went right Sunday, though, especially in a six-run A’s fifth. Vimael Machin doubled in two runs and Ramon Laureano got second life after third baseman Leury Garcia dropped a foul pop near the dugout and ended an 0-fo-18 skid with a two-run homer. Cuteo didn’t finish the inning, and alllowed eight hits and five earned runs.

Seth Brown dropped an RBI double in front of center fielder Adam Engel in the first after Engel broke late and a pop fly fell between shortstop Elvis Andrus, Garcia and left fielder AJ Pollock, plays Cairo attributed to what he called the toughest sun field in the majors.

In any event, it was the first time in 11 starts on the road Cueto failed to get a quality start, and his ERA climbed from 2.87 to 3.09.

“He was battling,” Cairo said. “A few pitches were flat and he had just one bad inning. That was the game.”

Eloy Jimenez had a double and single to account for two of the Sox’ four hits a day after the Sox had 20 hits and three days after they piled up 21. Jimenez is 13-for-25 with three homers, two doubles and nine RBI in his last six games.

Anderson seeing specialist Tuesday

Tim Anderson is seeing a hand specialist Tuesday, awaiting the go-ahead to begin catching and swinging a bat. Recovering from surgery on the middle finger of his left hand, Anderson has been limited to throwing and conditioning and hopes to be available for the last week or so of the season.

No Moncada, Robert, Harrison

Third baseman Yoan Moncada was given a day off and center fielder Luis Robert missed his fifth straight game with a sore left wrist and hand.

“[Moncada] played five [games] on the road after coming back from the hamstring injury,” Cairo said. “A precaution. Make sure he gets today and [Monday off day] so he’ll be there Tuesday.”

Jose Harrison was slated to play third base but was a late scratch due to flu-like symptoms and was replaced by Garcia.

Robert hit in the cages again but Engel started in center.

“For Tuesday, for sure, if everything goes well [Sunday], Tuesday [at home against Colorado] I think he’s going to be in the lineup,” Cairo said.

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As the Bears faithful gathered ahead of the team’s rain-drenched opening win on Sunday, the specter of a potential move to Arlington Heights loomed like the storm clouds over Soldier Field.

The matchup with the San Francisco 49ers came just three days after a pivotal community meeting in the northwest suburb, where Bears Chairman George McCaskey vowed the team would “be good neighbors” while conceding the massive development would rely, in part, on taxpayer money.

Hundreds of those fans were at Reggies Chicago, 2105 S. State St., before. Reggies owner Robby Glick hopes the team stays put.

“I’m a Chicagoan, I’m a Bears fan,” said Glick, a season ticket holder. “I don’t want them to move. I want the team to be in the city. I would love to see the Bears stay at Soldier.

“But I say that selfishly. I want the business, and I don’t want to go all the way out to Arlington Heights.”

Reggies was packed by 9:40 a.m., with over 400 people circulating through the bar, a standard crowd for home games. Fans who clamored for cocktails and the bar’s $15 all-you-can-eat buffet were eventually offered free rides to and from the stadium aboard old school buses.

Glick said he understands why the Bears want to leave, even if it would cut into his game-day business. Other fans made similar concessions, spouting off a laundry list of grievances.

They complained the stadium is one of the smallest in the league; there’s dome protecting fans from inclement weather; lines for restrooms and concessions are too long; there’s never enough parking; the train stops are too far away.

Kevin Conley stopped by Reggies with his brother before heading to Soldier Field. Weather aside, Conley was thrilled to head to the game, his first as a season-ticket holder.

But he’s also excited about the prospect of a possible new stadium with more seats, better amenities and easier access.

“I’m all in for it,” said Conley, who lives in the city. “It’s a pain to get to the stadium now, plus it’s old and small. It would be equally as time consuming getting here as it is to get out to the new stadium.”

Other fans weren’t so optimistic.

“I’m not too happy about it,” said Blake Neal, a South Loop resident. “It’s unfortunate if they end up moving. We live right here and just became season-ticket holders. And with Reggies, we’re able to hang at the bar then take the bus straight to the stadium.”

It might be closer for people in the suburbs, Neal said, but it won’t be as close for people on the South Side.

Just a few blocks away at Kroll’s South Loop, 1736 S. Michigan Ave., Bears fans were also split.

Jeremy Balfe, a Hyde Park resident who stopped in to watch the game, said he’s all for a new home field.

“Chicago deserves a bigger, better stadium,” Balfe said. “It’s an outdated stadium for many reasons. There needs to be a dome for bad weather days like today.It’d be great if Soldier could be improved and they could stay here, but I just don’t think that’s feasible.”

As for Nicole Steinmetz, the bar’s owner, the move from Soldier Field would be devastating for her business. Kroll’s is reliably packed before and after Bears games, Steinmetz said, and the bar stays busy with people coming by to watch.

“Home games make a huge difference for us,” she said. “I understand why they are looking to leave, but it would be awful for local businesses here.”

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Some games show exactly where a team stands and where it’s headed.

Others are simply a mess.

The Bears splashed and sloshed to a 19-10 season-opening win over the 49ers on the watery grass at Soldier Field. The game was as sloppy and gray as the weather, making it impossible to draw big-picture conclusions about quarterback Justin Fields, the reconfigured defense or the rebuilding Bears’ trajectory.

By the end, there was standing water all over the field and the yard lines were runny and warped. It looked more like a Van Gogh painting than an actual field as the Bears ran down the clock and turned the end zone into a Slip ‘n Slide.

“That was awesome,” Fields said. “That was a snapshot moment, for sure.”

It certainly was an epic celebration, but what the Bears celebrated was more of an escape than a triumph — especially for the offense. They survived the weather and outscored the 49ers 19-0 over the last quarter and a half to win.

They’ll always take it, but regularly replicating that will be tough.

They got their first touchdown on a broken play in which the 49ers’ secondary raced to stop Fields from running and left Dante Pettis open for 51 yards. Fields went left, stopped before the line of scrimmage and threw a pop-up back to Pettis all alone on the opposite side.

The next came on an 84-yard drive in which the 49ers gave them 20 yards and two first downs by committing third-down penalties. Fields wrapped the drive with a flawless lob to Equanimeous St. Brown on a beautifully designed play in the red zone for an 18-yard touchdown to go up 13-10.

The Bears closed it out when safety Eddie Jackson intercepted Trey Lance near midfield and brought it back to the 49ers’ 21-yard line. Five run plays later, Khalil Herbert was in the end zone for a 19-10 lead with seven minutes left.

Fields completed 8 of 17 passes for 121 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for an 85.7 passer rating, plus he ran 11 times for 28 yards.

Nobody could spin that into sounding like a great game, and he’ll need to play much better to have a chance against Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field next week. It was good enough Sunday, but typically it won’t be.

However, it’s reasonable to account for the circumstances that hampered Fields.

It was his debut in the new offense under coordinator Luke Getsy, and it might take time before everything clicks. His offensive line faltered across the board. And few quarterbacks play to their peak in a downpour.

“Some throws you have full control, and then some throws, [it’s] so wet that you don’t have as much grip,” he said. “It just differs every play.”

His first pass was a short one to running back David Montgomery, which got away fromandfluttered over Montgomery’s head toward two defenders.

Fields started the game barehanded, then switched to wearing gloves. Neither was ideal.

On a throw midway through the third quarter, he tried to hit St. Brown on the right sideline, but threw short and inside, allowing 49ers safety Tashaun Gipson to step in front of it. Gipson might’ve had a pick-six if he hadn’t dropped it.

Were those near-interceptions alarmingly inaccurate passes, or merely byproducts of the deluge? With Fields’ minimal track record, it’s difficult to discern.

“It was rough sledding in the first half,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “We were trying to find our way.”

One highly problematic play was his first-quarter interception over the middle. Fields needs to rise above imperfect circumstances rather than compound the offense’s deficiencies with errors.

He was looking for Darnell Mooney on third-and-seven and didn’t seem to see 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga drifting toward the eventual path of his pass. He also admitted he bypassed open tight end Cole Kmet in the flats.

Fields caught a break on that interception when cornerback Jaylon Johnson ended the 49ers’ ensuing drive by punching a fumble out of the hands of 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel.

Several things went Fields’ way, and that’s how the Bears flipped the game in the second half. The takeaways were vital.But they won’t always be there, and a big part of what he needs to prove this season is that he can sustain drives.

The Bears didn’t get farther downfield than their own 35-yard line until shortly before halftime, and stalling that long against someone like Rodgers could bury them. They’ve seen it before.

The offense produced just 204 yards, less than it had in all but one game under Matt Nagy last season. Of the Bears’ six longest plays of the game, there was Pettis’ touchdown against blown coverage and two scrambles by Fields aided by 15-yard penalties. And the running game averaged 2.7 yards per carry.

This is only sufficient offensively if there’s a lot of help, and that’s not a sustainable formula. Fields was good enough, but what they really need is for him to be flat-out good.

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