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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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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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 — 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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