Author: staff
CINCINNATI — It took a moment for third baseman Patrick Wisdom to register how much of the Chicago Cubs schedule has been completed.“Man, we’re already a quarter of the way through?”AdvertisementThis postgame question prompted his realization Monday night at Great American Ball Park: How would you assess the first quarter of the season and within the context of where this organization is trying to go?“I think we’re trending in the right direction,” Wisdom said. “I love this team. I think we have a great clubhouse. It’s been a lot of fun to play with these guys, and I look forward to many more wins and many more games.”AdvertisementWisdom paused a few seconds.“I mean, that’s pretty much all I’ve got on that,” he continued. “It’s hard for me to kind of say more since I’m still a new guy here, and I’m still just trying to get my feet wet with the team as well.”[ [Don’t miss] Chicago Cubs President Jed Hoyer is confident his long-term game plan is working: ‘We’re on the right track’ ]He is not wrong, and that itself speaks magnitudes of the Cubs’ short-term and big-picture position.Wisdom is just shy of the one-year anniversary of his 2021 call-up that turned into a fourth-place finish for National League Rookie of the Year and the franchise’s rookie home run record holder. But only one of the 15 players to appear in Monday’s 7-4 win against the Cincinnati Reds has spent more big-league time on the Cubs than Wisdom.Patrick Wisdom runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Reds during the fourth inning on May 23, 2022. (Paul Vernon/AP)Expanding the scope of the Cubs roster, 10 players — including those on the injured list — are longer tenured than Wisdom, who first appeared for the organization in September 2020 in two games as a pinch hitter. One is an impending free agent (Willson Contreras), one will hit free agency after next season (Ian Happ), two have guaranteed contracts that end after 2023 (Kyle Hendricks and Jason Heyward), two will reach arbitration in the offseason for the first time (Nico Hoerner and Rowan Wick) and four are on the 60-day IL (David Bote, Alec Mills, Adbert Alzolay and Brad Wieck).In theory, the Cubs’ main offensive producers in Monday’s victory are mainstays, to varying degrees, on future teams. Wisdom homered in his fourth consecutive game, the first Cub to accomplish the feat since Anthony Rizzo in 2015. Happ’s torrid career numbers in the city he played college baseball continued with an RBI double, three-run homer and nearly another extra-base hit that was robbed at the wall. Seiya Suzuki doubled, scored two runs and walked twice.[ [Don’t miss] Willson Contreras’ hot start for the Chicago Cubs is rooted in his approach: ‘One of the most talented hitters I’ve ever been around’ ]However, the Cubs (17-24) still need clarity and answers on numerous roster spots. This is part of the rebuilding process, but not an enviable position. For a second consecutive year, the Cubs are positioning to be major trade deadline sellers. Count Happ, though, among those who have no interest in entertaining any speculation of how different this roster could again look post-trade deadline.“We’ve all seen it happen every year, something that starts way too early and it makes no sense,” Happ said of trade deadline speculation after Monday’s win.AdvertisementWhether he would be shocked to see another Cubs sell off, Happ replied: “That’s not a question I want to answer.”Rafael Ortega, right, celebrates his home run against the Diamondbacks with Ian Happ during the first inning on May 15, 2022. (Ross D. Franklin/AP)Generally, the Cubs have been competitive in the first two months with more than one-third of their games decided by one run. But they are 4-10 in those situations; only four teams have played more one-run games.In assessing his team’s first-quarter performance, manager David Ross believes he’s seen the Cubs consistently getting better every day. When stating “a lot of good progress has been made,” Ross specifically mentioned Happ, Hoerner’s performance at shortstop and Wisdom implementing offseason adjustments. He’s also pleased with the Cubs’ base-running improvement and getting more consistency from the rotation.[ [Don’t miss] How the Chicago Cubs’ aggressive base-running approach — ‘pushing the envelope’ — is paying off ]In a long season, Ross doesn’t want to judge the first 41 games without examining it within the full season. Although it was a very different roster, Ross pointed to last year’s 19-8 May as an example of what happens when a team gets written off too soon. The early 2021 performance had the Cubs trending toward buyers before an 11-game losing streak at the end of June into July cemented their seller status at the trade deadline.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.Ross is staying focused on evaluating the daily process, explaining “I don’t go there too often” with big-picture timelines.“I think it’s hard to talk big picture without knowing what holes you need to fill,” Ross said Monday. “You’ve got to let guys have their season and continue to develop into being major-league players. Are they a fit on our roster, and then where those holes are to fill on a championship-caliber team.AdvertisementCubs manager David Ross walks on the field during a game against the Pirates at Wrigley Field on May 16, 2022. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)“We’re working toward that every day and every day trying to get better. The only way to know that is for those guys continue to work to get better and look up at the end of the season and see where we’re at.”Ross called it a growth season for the Cubs. He noted how the roster features a mix of guys getting their first opportunities, veterans and older inexperienced players trying to make big-league careers for themselves like Wisdom, Rafael Ortega and Frank Schwindel. None of this is reassuring to Cubs fans who expect more wins than losses after a stretch of five postseason appearances in six years on the heels of a rebuild that was supposed to ensure sustained success.A promising farm system is just that: merely potential until it yields results. The seemingly lack of cornerstone players on the Cubs’ big-league roster is concerning — it’s part of the reason they face another painful summer.“I don’t want to be repetitive, but I think it’s about trying to get better every single day,” Ross said. “What’s important for us is to stay focused on the daily grind of the season and try to continue to get better and evaluate things as they come.“I don’t think anybody’s punting — I haven’t in any way to give up on a team that I have a ton of confidence in, is going to come work hard every single day and give me their best. That’s all I can ask for as a manager.”
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Dear Amy: My daughter just announced her engagement to her boyfriend, “Clay.”They are both heavy pot users. Clay is also a convicted felon (for selling narcotics), a college dropout, and has psychiatric and physical health problems.AdvertisementHe picks up occasional work but cannot and does not support her. He can barely support himself. He has terrible hygiene.Worse yet, he seems to be incredibly reckless. He has totaled three cars in three years.AdvertisementMy husband and our other children insist that I must support my daughter’s life choices, but I cannot bring myself to. I see only pain and poverty in her future.We raised our beautiful daughter in an upper middle-class family, sent her to private college and on European trips.We supported her 100 percent over the past year while she successfully undertook and excelled in a prerequisite program to start a three-year (online, part-time) master’s degree toward a new career.She recently got a minimally-paying job and wants us to continue to help support her while she moves forward with grad school and the boyfriend.Her siblings have said that if I don’t support her choices, I will lose contact with all of them.I feel like I’m being blackmailed into watching a horror movie play out. My heart is broken. If I cut off my daughter financially, she’ll hate me.If I don’t support her relationship with her boyfriend, they’ll all hate me.My husband, who wants to retire soon, wants me to at least support her relationship, and is willing to tell my daughter to take loans and support herself.AdvertisementCould you weigh in?– Heartbroken MomDear Heartbroken: I see a distinction between “support” and “accept.”Yes, you should accept your daughter’s choice because she is an adult and she has the right to make terrible choices.If you accept her, must you also “support” her? Absolutely not.She may need to experience the reality of living a marginal life – far from her upper-middle class privilege – in order to make a choice about it.AdvertisementIf she continues with her graduate program and you can afford it, you might choose to pay only her school bills (directly to the school). If she completes each semester successfully, you can choose to pay for the next semester. This would be extremely generous. She and “Clay” will then have to work to support their living expenses – as countless adult couples are expected to do.Invite them over for dinner, include them in family events, and yes – you may be forced to face and tolerate your disappointment in your pot-using daughter and her choice in partner, but until she is forced to face her own choices and disappointments, she will never be inspired to perhaps choose differently.Dear Amy: I have an alcoholic friend who is trying to quit drinking.We go out once in a while to have lunch or dinner and I’m wondering — would it be wise to have only one alcoholic beverage?I would think tapering off alcohol slowly and supervised would be better for him than stopping completely.I want to be helpful.Advertisement– Concerned FriendDear Concerned: If you are an addiction specialist, then by all means you could try to coach your friend through tapering off of alcohol and supervise his consumption. Otherwise, I believe it would be best for you to avoid alcohol completely when you are with him.For some addicts, any contact with their drug will trigger their addiction. One drink at lunch could lead to a binge later.Some people might be able to effectively reduce and possibly manage their drinking by choosing to change their habits, but an alcoholic in the throes of addiction could not be expected to be able to do this.Ask AmyDailyNo-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. For a limited time, sign up for the Ask Amy newsletter and get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.It would be wisest for you to support your friend’s recovery by pointing him toward in- or out-patient rehab, attending 12-step meetings, and reckoning with your own powerlessness over his disease.Dear Amy: Regarding “Worried Dad,” whose 20-something kids had bad hygiene, bad eating habits, and a habit of leaving messes, you left out the possibility that the boys are suffering from depression, particularly if this is a change from their habits in the past. I’d strongly recommend they be diagnosed by a physician knowledgeable about this insidious disease.Advertisement– Been ThereDear Been There: This father did not indicate any change in their habits, but I agree that a medical screening is always wise, especially for young men, who tend to avoid going to the doctor.Got a question for Amy? Enter it here and we’ll send it to her.Sign up here to receive the Ask Amy newsletter to get advice e-mailed to your inbox every morning, and for a limited time — get the book “Ask Amy: Essential Wisdom from America’s Favorite Advice Columnist” for $5.©2021 Amy Dickinson.
PARIS — A year ago, Naomi Osaka left the French Open of her own volition, never beaten on the court but determining that she needed to pull out before the second round to stand up for herself and protect her mind.On Monday, Osaka departed Roland Garros against her will — via a 7-5, 6-4 loss in the first round to 20-year-old American Amanda Anisimova, who is seeded 27th and also won their contest at the Australian Open in January — after taking a painkiller to try to deal with a troublesome left Achilles tendon. She tried to stretch the tendon by tugging on her neon yellow shoes at changeovers or by squatting to flex her lower leg between points.AdvertisementOsaka was unable to summon the serving or court coverage on which her game is based, in part because her practice time and recent match play have been limited. The four-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player, who is now ranked No. 38 and was unseeded in Paris, double-faulted twice to end games and called the outcome “disappointing.”Yet she also provided a measure of the way in which her mindset might have changed since her previous appearance at the clay-court major tournament, when she decided not to speak to the media at all (drawing a $15,000 fine and threat of further punishment, which prompted her withdrawal), saying that stance was because of anxiety and depression she hadn’t previously revealed. Her openness back then helped spark a wider awareness of, and conversation about, the importance of mental health.Advertisement“I’m really happy with myself,” Osaka said Monday, “because I know the emotions that I left France (with) last year.”Naomi Osaka loses to Amanda Anisimova in the first round at the French Open on Monday. (Christophe Ena/AP)Barbora Krejcikova also was aware of the wide spectrum of emotions she went through herself at the French Open from 2021 — when she was a Grand Slam singles champion for the first time — to 2022 — when she joined Osaka in departing in the first round.Krejcikova was seeded No. 2, but she was coming off an injured right elbow that kept her off the tour since February, and her first match back began with a 4-0 lead before unraveling into a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 exit against Diane Parry, a 19-year-old from France who is ranked 97th and entered the day with a 1-5 career record in Grand Slam matches.Krejcikova said she “hit the wall” early in the second set and never recovered, becoming just the third woman in French Open history to be defeated in her opening match a year after winning the title.There weren’t any other such significant results on Day 2, when the women’s winners included No. 1 Iga Swiatek, the 2020 champion; and other past major champs Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and Bianca Andrescu. In men’s matches, 13-time champion Rafael Nadal won in three sets and No. 13 seed Taylor Fritz won in five.Novak Djokovic opened his title defense Monday night with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 victory in less than two hours over Yoshihito Nishioka. He improved to 18-0 for his career in the first round at Roland Garros. U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu also won in the night session, beating Czech qualifier Linda Noskova 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-1.Merely conducting news conferences, before the tournament on Friday and after this loss, were a step forward for Osaka. She was comfortable addressing all sorts of topics, including her difficulties on clay and grass courts, the fact that she is leaning toward skipping Wimbledon because there won’t be ranking points offered there and the increased attention to protecting athletes’ well-being — even if the strides made over the past 12 months are not necessarily enough.“I mean, I feel like there is always more to do. You can’t progress and then just stop. You know what I’m saying? There always has to be evolution,” Osaka said. “But I feel like, as of right now, they are trying their best, and I think it’s really nice to see.”AdvertisementWhile Osaka’s best performances have come on hard courts, Anisimova’s best showing at a Slam came on the red clay of Roland Garros, where she reached the 2019 semifinals at 17. And even if the occasional rain that delayed play for hours Monday made the tennis balls heavier and restricted what Anisimova felt she could do to deliver shots where she wanted them, she was good enough to advance in straight sets against a top-flight opponent.“A lot of anticipation over the last couple of days. I was trying not to think about it too much, but going into the match, I did feel like the stress and the nerves a bit, because it is a very tough first round,” Anisimova said. “Just happy with how I was able to manage it and get through it.”