Already, the Bears are seeing a different Justin Fields.

A year ago, Fields was a touted rookie who had no chance of winning the starting quarterback job the Bears had promised to Andy Dalton. He was cemented in Matt Nagy’s apprenticeship program — following an Alex Smith/Patrick Mahomes template the Bears had no hope of replicating.

Today, Fields is the unquestioned starter, the centerpiece of coordinator Luke Getsy’s offense. Who knows if he’ll get time to throw, or have a running game to keep a defense on its heels, or have open receivers to throw to. It’s June. But tight end Cole Kmet can see the difference.

“Just in the huddle, that’s the biggest thing for me,” Kmet said. “Just the way he commands everybody on the field.

“I think we were running two-minute these past couple of weeks — he’s just been great in terms of being vocal to everybody and being demonstrative about what he wants from everybody. It’s been fun to be a part of and fun to watch and exciting to keep drawing on this going into training camp.”

Even as he learns a new system in his second season, teammates can see Fieldsbecoming more acclimated to being the focal point of the Bears’ offense. Let the record show that he had a 73.2 passer rating and a 26.4 QB rating last season. But he has embraced his role, with apparent room for growth.

“I just feel like he’s more comfortable,” guard Cody Whitehair said. “His leadership has taken a step, and that just comes from being more comfortable from Year 1 to Year 2 — a little bit more experience, seeing things a second time or third time or fourth time. And he’s only going to continue to grow.”

Even defensive players have noticed Fields’ growth. Defensive tackle Justin Jones played with Justin Herbert with the Chargers last season before signing with the Bears in free agency and had a front-row seat to Herbert’s quick progression to “Next Big Thing” status — the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2020 and the Pro Bowl in 2021.

“I think Justin Fields is a different quarterback from Justin Herbert. A little different player, [they’re] different guys,” Jones said. “What I’ll say about Justin Fields, though, is he really loves the game of football. He has a commanding leadership on the field — a legit field general. He gets guys wound up, gets guys going.”

We’ll see how it turns out. “Command of the huddle” leadership is one of those offseason accolades that turns into a fallacy by September. Chase Daniel said it about Mitch Trubisky. Victor Cruz said it about Mike Glennon. Matt Forte said it about Josh McCown. Zach Miller said it about Jay Cutler. Even Trubisky said it about Tyler Bray.

How does a quarterback’s command of the huddle make a teammate better? Or an offense better? Whitehair has played with nine starting quarterbacks in his six seasons with the Bears — Jay Cutler, Brian Hoyer, Matt Barkley, Glennon, Trubisky, Daniel, Nick Foles, Dalton and Fields. He’s as qualified as anyone to ask.

“I just think when he comes in to annunciate the play or give us what we need to know to get out there and execute the play, it’s just a lot more smooth,” Whitehair said. “He says it with more confidence. That’s just him developing from Year 1 to Year 2. We like where Justin is at, and I’m really excited for the year.”

Though Jones did not play with Fields last year, he apparently saw enough of him to see a difference in Fields this year.

“I feel like the pace of his game has [increased] since last year,” Jones said. “Obviously, first year going into your second year, your speed of the game has excelled a lot — I feel that way personally.

“I’m really excited about the season he’s about to have. Once you’ve played your first year, you’ve seen the speed of the game; you’ve seen how guys are moving; how fast the window closes; you see how fast receivers get open. I’m excited. He’s a lot more comfortable now.”

Bears coach Matt Eberflus was with the Cowboys for Dak Prescott’s first two seasons in 2016-17. Prescott’s impact was immediate. He was the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2016 and made the Pro Bowl.

“We saw him grow before our very eyes,” Eberflus said. “He’s a talent, a guy that can throw on time but also make extended plays and throw down the field, and that’s where I see that Justin is.

“I’m not trying to compare [Prescott and Fields]. They’re different players. But certainly you can see the jump that we’re going to make with Justin, and I can see those things as he starts to mature in the offense.”

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In his first draft as the Blackhawks’ amateur scouting director, Mike Doneghey won’t have a first-round pick.

But he does have two second-round and three third-round selections. That’s five picks between 38th and 94th overall.

And he knows that if the Hawks can strike gold on a couple of those, it’ll make a major difference in their -rebuild.

“[When] you look at a team like Carolina, three of their best players — Sebastian Aho, Brett Pesce and Jaccob Slavin — were second-, third- and fourth-round picks,” Doneghey said this week. “So the players are there. You just have to [find them].

“My advice to the guys is, ‘Let’s buckle down and not leave any stone unturned.’ Because there are players historically that come out of that portion of the draft and make an impact for your team.”

Trend to reverse

The Hawks’ failures to identify those later-round gems during the latter half of former general manager Stan Bowman’s and former amateur scouting director Mark Kelley’s tenures is part of why GM Kyle Davidson promoted Doneghey into his role in March.

The scouting department regularly conducts redrafting exercises four or five years after a draft to evaluate, as Doneghey explained, which “guys we’ve hit on, guys we’ve missed on, why we’ve hit, why we’ve missed, so on and so forth.”

And they can’t be thrilled with their -findings.

From 2012 to 2018, the Hawks drafted 53 players in the second round or later. Only 11 have made the NHL. Only five have played in more than 100 NHL games: Alex DeBrincat (the lone flash of brilliance in the group), Philipp Kurashev, John Hayden, Tyler Motte and Vinnie Hinostroza.

The Hawks’ 21% success rate on picks making the NHL pales in comparison to the league average of 38%. So does their 100-game success rate of 9% to the league average of 15%.

The second round has been a particular weak spot. Only three of their seven second-round picks in that span have made the NHL. Chad Krys, Artur Kayumov, Graham Knott and Dillon Fournier failed to do so; DeBrincat, Ian Mitchell and Carl Dahlstrom are the only players who did.

That equates to a 43% success rate on second-round picks making the NHL and a 14% success rate on them playing 100 games (only DeBrincat has so far). The NHL averages are far higher: 65% and 32%, respectively.

The Hawks hope a new vision will lead to better results this summer and beyond.

Changing structure

Doneghey reports to Davidson and new associate GMs Norm Maciver and Jeff Greenberg. Beneath Doneghey is a staff of 10 amateur scouts (and two support personnel) whom he’d like to give defined roles.

“We’ve had a history of having a lot of guys cross over [between regions],” Doneghey said. “I would like to have a department where the scouts are more regionalized and know their own area and then have two or three crossover scouts throughout the world — including myself — that are going into each region, looking at the top players and coming up with a consensus.”

That will involve changing the roles and titles of some scouts, but those changes won’t be made until after the draft July 7-8.

In the meantime, Doneghey, Davidson, Maciver, Greenberg, scouting manager Hudson Chodos and the four head regional scouts — Jim McKellar (Eastern Canada), Darrell May (Western Canada), Rob Facca (United States) and Niklas Blomgren (Europe) — all attended the NHL Scouting Combine last week in Buffalo, New York. The full department will unite for the first time since before the pandemic at the draft in Montreal.

“It’s going to be dynamite,” Doneghey said. “I’m looking forward to seeing everybody, and I’m sure they’re looking forward to seeing each other.

“[But despite] what we’ve gone through as scouts in the NHL, as

far as watching video and having video meetings with your staff, it has been worse for these kids because they’ve had to do it for [everything]. One player that we interviewed [at the combine] didn’t play hockey all of last year. The last two years haven’t been great for anybody, but more so the players because their development has been skewed a little bit.”

That lost development time makes it extra-difficult to evaluate the 17- and 18-year-olds who make up the draft class this year. That uncertainty is why Doneghey doesn’t necessarily agree with the popular sentiment that the class is weaker than usual.

“I don’t know how you can judge that,” he said.

This year’s plan

It’s nearly impossible to forecast from afar which players the Hawks will target because they’re so far down the order. Even internally, Doneghey doesn’t have much clearer of an idea because so many variables remain in play.

“The only team who gets the player they want is No. 1,” he said. “After that, you have to go off of the team in front of you. You keep your list always up-to-date [with] moving parts.”

Nonetheless, Davidson has made it clear publicly that he wants the team he builds to emphasize speed and skating.

“[We] want to play really fast, as fast as you can,” Doneghey said Davidson told him.

Given the imbalance in the Hawks’ prospect pool, with plenty of potential NHL-caliber defensemen and goaltenders but very few promising forwards outside of Lukas Reichel, drafting more forwards also will be a priority.

The biggest objective, though, is to hit on more picks than in years past — regardless of the chosen prospects’ position and skills.

“The goal for me is to not take for granted those five [second- and third-round] picks,” Doneghey said. “Just because they’re not labeled with a first-round pick doesn’t mean they’re not going to play.”

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Since this delayed season began, baseball has been playing catch-up. Every day there is a game to watch. Even the quizmaster is blending months together, as you can see by my mid-June questions about May.

As fans, I know it’s exhausting. So take a few minutes for yourself today. Do something

relaxing. Read a book. Talk to a neighbor. Take a nap. Before you know it, it will be the first day of summer, then July 4, then the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, then the trade deadline. Before you know it, it will be August — and I’ll be asking questions about June.

Have some fun, and good luck on the quiz.

1. In May, the White Sox went 15-12 and the Cubs went 12-16. Which team had the better ERA?

a. White Sox

b. Cubs

c. The same

2. Two teams did not hit a triple in May. Which ones?

a. Cubs b. White Sox

c. Yankees d. Braves

3. In May, Jose Abreu and Patrick Wisdom led the Sox and Cubs in extra-base hits. Who had more?

a. Abreu

b. Wisdom

c. The same

4. In May, Paul Goldschmidt led the majors in extra-base hits. Who had more, Jose Abreu and Patrick Wisdom combined or Goldschmidt?

a. Goldschmidt

b. Abreu and Wisdom

c. The same

5. In May, Willson Contreras tied a Cubs record by getting hit by eight pitches in a month. Whose record did he tie?

a. Kris Bryant b. Anthony Rizzo

c. Marlon Byrd d. His own

6. On June 2, we remembered and honored Lou Gehrig. The date is significant because he became the Yankees’ starting first baseman on that date in 1925 and died at the age of 37 on that date in 1941. In between, on June 3, 1932, Gehrig became the first player in the 20th century to hit four home runs in a game. Pat Seerey is the only Chicago player to achieve that feat (July 18, 1948), doing it for the Sox. Who are the two players who hit four dingers in a game against a Chicago team?

a. Mike Schmidt b. J.D. Martinez

c. Mike Cameron d. Chuck Klein

7. In head-to-head contests, the White Sox lead the Cubs 73-65. Since 2013 — that’s 10 seasons of baseball — who leads the intracity rivalry?

a. The White Sox

b. The Cubs

c. They have same record

8. In 1970 and 1972, Johnny Bench was the National League MVP (he could have won it every year). In each case, the runner-up was a Cub. Who were they or who was he?

a. Billy Williams b. Ron Santo

c. Rick Monday d. Fergie Jenkins

9. The Braves are coming to Wrigley Field next week. It won’t come as any surprise to you that Henry Aaron leads all Braves with 50 homers at Wrigley. Who is the active leader for homers by a Braves player in the Friendly Confines?

a. Freddie Freeman b. Jason Heyward

c. Ozzie Albies d. Ronald Acuna

ANSWERS

1. The Sox’ ERA was 4.32, 20th in the majors. The Cubs’ ERA was 3.97, 14th in the majors. The major-league average was 4.10.

2. The Cubs hit seven triples and the Yankees hit one, which leaves the Sox and Braves bereft of triples.

3. They had the same.

4. Jose Abreu and Patrick Wisdom each had 11 extra-base hits for a total of 22, one shy of Paul Goldschmidt’s 23.

5. In the final month of the 2020 season, Willson Contreras was hit by eight pitches. It’s hard enough being a catcher without being battered as a batter.

6. On April 17, 1976, the Phillies’ Mike Schmidt hit four homers against the Cubs. On May 2,

2002, the Mariners’ Mike Cameron did it against the White Sox.

7. With the Sox taking three of four this season, each team has won 24 games and lost 24 games in the last 10 seasons.

8. In 1970, Johnny Bench received 326 points; Billy Williams finished second with 218. In 1972, Bench received 263 points; Williams finished second with 211.

9. Of course, it’s Freddie Freeman — who is now with the Dodgers — with seven. I just put the other names there to tantalize you.

Shameless plug: My book with Bob Ryan, ”In Scoring Position: 40 Years of a Baseball Love Affair,” will make a great gift for Father’s Day.

Write me at [email protected], and you might be a part of the quiz.

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Tony La Russa’s decision to employ Reynaldo Lopez as an opener Friday night didn’t ignite fires on the internet and the airwaves.

The dark clouds of criticism still hovered over Guaranteed Rate Field one day after La Russa’s failed decision to walk Trea Turner that set up Max Muncy’s three-run homer in a loss to the Dodgers, but the White Sox’ skipper doubled down on his decision while acknowledging the criticism.

“I’m always fascinated, and that’s part of the reason I’m still here,” La Russa said. “I really embrace the excitement of making those decisions. If it don’t go right, I have enough scabs. I can take it.”

La Russa’s decision to start Lopez, after a suggestion from the baseball operations department, paid off in an 8-3 victory against the Rangers. Lopez and Davis Martin, who pitched five innings of three-hit ball, kept the score close enough for the offense to erupt for five runs in the eighth.

Yasmani Grandal snapped a 3-3 tie with a two-run double, and Danny Mendick capped the rally with a two-run homer.

“A lot of clutch hitting,” La Russa said after the Sox had five consecutive hits with two outs in the eighth.

Martin had no issues after learning earlier Friday that he would relieve instead of start.

“It was a little different, but I did it in college my freshman year,” said Martin, who pitched at Texas Tech. “So it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I don’t take a lot of time to warm up anyway. So I embraced it and had fun with it.”

The Rangers also were forced to use Matt Bush as their opener after starter Glenn Otto had a positive COVID-19 test.

At the very least, Martin provided length for a well-worked bullpen and defused some of the attention from the previous day.

But La Russa was ready to elaborate on his decision and on remaining firm in his convictions while taking a nostalgic drive based on what former mentor Paul Richards told him and what he learned from watching managerial greats such as Sparky Anderson, Billy Martin, Earl Weaver and Whitey Herzog, as well as Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

La Russa referenced Belichick’s decision to go for a first down on his 29-yard line on fourth-and-two that cost his team a victory against the Colts in 2009.

“Arguably one of the greatest coaches of all time, right?” La Russa said. “And he got blasted. And that’s the way it is if it doesn’t work. I don’t care who you are. The deep part about it is it really frees you.”

La Russa shook his head when asked if he still believed he made the right decision to walk Turner on a 1-2 count and have Muncy face left-hander Bennett Sousa.

“Twenty-four hours later, I’m even more surprised,” said La Russa, insisting the decision wasn’t a close call.

Turner is batting .344 on 1-2 counts the last three seasons, according to ESPN content producer Paul Hembekides. La Russa reiterated his faith in Sousa and said his decision was heavily influenced by Turner’s success on 1-2 counts.

“Now if it had been a right-handed pitcher, yeah, I probably would have tried to make a pitch,” La Russa said.

Recently, La Russa has come under scrutiny with awkward lineups while working with an injury-riddled roster.

He is merely heeding the advice of Richards, who told him during his second season as a minor-league manager to “trust your gut, don’t cover your butt.”

“He said if you make moves to cover your butt, and they usually don’t work and you get fired, you’ll never know if you’re good enough,” La Russa said.

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The long-awaited move to option struggling left-handed hitter Gavin Sheets to Triple-A Charlotte took place before the game Friday night, but it came at a price.

Because the White Sox’ bullpen was short-handed, Jimmy Lambert was summoned from Charlotte. That transaction left the Sox with only three bench players this weekend.

“The issue is going to be what we do when [Lance] Lynn comes back,” manager Tony La Russa said. “I wish we had the issue of getting Timmy [Anderson] and Eloy [Jimenez]. We are in that period of time where we are playing a lot of games.

“One reason we survived this long with our issues [is because] we really have tried to protect our late-inning [relievers]. We’ve won some games where the earlier guys have stepped up, and they’ve pitched us late [in games] because we were protecting guys. We aren’t going to change that.”

Lynn, who made three rehab starts at Charlotte after having surgery on his right knee, is projected to return Tuesday in Detroit.

Meanwhile, Sheets will try to regain his stroke after batting .204 with 34 strikeouts in 134 plate appearances. He was only 1-for-14 (.071) against left-handers.

“This is the worst place to try to [break out of a slump] — even if you’re a pitcher working on something,” said La Russa, who noticed Sheets was pressing at the plate. “Big-league pitchers, big-league hitters — no mercy.”

The Sox hope Sheets can rekindle the stroke that saw him hit 11 home runs and drive in 34 runs in 54 games in 2021, his rookie season.

Lambert, 27, has spent parts of three seasons with the Sox, including an 0-2 record with a 5.14 ERA in three games in 2022. He was 0-3 with a 9.24 ERA in five starts at Charlotte.

Double duty

Assistant general manager Chris Getz has been scouting amateur players for the draft next month in addition to his primary duty of overseeing the minor leagues.

Getz said he stays in frequent contact with amateur scouting director Mike Shirley on ways to plug holes in the farm system.

“I always enjoy going out and seeing players and talking to our area scouts and Mike and anyone else who is part of that staff,” Getz said. “I try to get a stronger understanding of how each of these players fits in a particular draft and also get background information if we’re able to draft and sign them on how they fit into our organization and how to handle them from a developmental standpoint.”

The Sox have the 26th overall pick in the draft.

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