April 28, 2016 -- CSNChicago.com Joe Maddon digging hot starts from Cubs and White Sox By Patrick Mooney The Adam LaRoche retirement fiasco figured to either tear the White Sox apart or bring them closer together. Outside Camelback Ranch, Chris Sale’s blistering takedown of Kenny Williams sounded like an All-Star pitcher daring his boss to trade him. LaRoche popped up again on Wednesday, posting this message on his Twitter account: “Don’t forget, tomorrow is take your child to work day.” But once that media storm passed in spring training, the White Sox could go back to being the team built on a strong rotation and a lineup anchored by Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier. A series of low-risk, high-reward moves are paying off, with the White Sox now 16-6 after sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The Cubs – another big offseason winner – are the only team in the majors with a better record (15-5). “Digging it,” said Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who wore a pink Mother’s Day edition of his “Try Not To Suck” T-shirt during his media session at Wrigley Field. “I’m really happy for them and their success. I think it’s great for the city. If we could both sustain this kind of play, it could make for a very interesting summer.” The Cubs were digging themselves so much in Arizona that a coach’s son taking out a lineup card before a Cactus League game almost felt like Maddon’s crew trolling the White Sox (and not what it actually was – a prearranged birthday reward). But Maddon has deep respect for Robin Ventura and the way the White Sox manager navigated his team through the bizarre LaRoche situation, a player walking away from $13 million because his son would no longer have unrestricted access in the clubhouse. “I know he went through a tough gig this past spring training,” Maddon said. “I thought he handled it great.” As an Angels coach in the mid-1990s, Maddon remembered bumping into Ventura and noticing the people skills that made him such a favorite on the South Side. “Robin Ventura’s a good man,” Maddon said. “I’m walking into the ballpark – (and) I’m just a year-and-a-half, a year in the big leagues – and he happened to be walking in at the same time. “He greeted me like I had been there for 20 years. He addressed me. And I’ll never forget that.” This year, Maddon and his old buddies from the Angels joined Ventura for dinner one night in spring training. “It was like me, (Mike Scioscia), Buddy Black, Ronnie Roenicke and Sandy Koufax,” Maddon said with a smile. “Did I say Sandy Koufax? And then Robin was there, too, because Robin digs wine. And Robin is always like throwing me a good bottle now and then.” The Cubs and White Sox haven’t both finished with winning records since 2008, when they each won division titles and had all these big, combustible personalities like Lou Piniella, Ozzie Guillen, Carlos Zambrano and A.J. Pierzynski. The Cubs and White Sox will play four straight games on both sides of the city (July 25-28) and we’ll see if they stay hot. But the Bulls and Blackhawks are done, and this year baseball doesn’t have to be a space-filler until the Bears report to training camp. “When you live in this city and you have that stuff going on, what could possibly beat that?” Maddon said. -- CSNChicago.com Amid rain and PED media storm, Jake Arrieta’s next no-hit bid will wait another day By Patrick Mooney Cubs fans hoping to see back-to-back no-hitters from Jake Arrieta will have to wait until Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field, where every start is becoming a chance to witness history. As heavy rain fell on the North Side, the Cubs postponed Wednesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers without setting a makeup date. Arrieta will now get a full week of rest after no-hitting the Cincinnati Reds in another dominant performance that raised questions about whether or not performance-enhancing drugs helped fuel his transformation into a Cy Young Award winner. Arrieta, who clearly enjoys the spotlight and this new level of fame, even responded to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on Twitter, promising to laugh off all the media hot takes and whispers from opposing players after his pronounced struggles with the Baltimore Orioles (20-25, 5.46 ERA) and Triple-A shuttles between 2010 and 2013. More ESPN talking heads appeared Wednesday afternoon on the muted clubhouse TVs, with an Arrieta segment framed by the question: “Flattered by PED accusations?” “I don’t have any doubt that he’s clean,” said David Ross, who caught Arrieta’s no-hitter at Great American Ball Park. “I’ve seen his workouts and how hard he works, so there’s no doubt in my mind. People are going to speculate. That’s part of life. I don’t put too much stock in what (other) people think. “I don’t care – I’m worried about this group in here. That’s all we can worry about. I can’t worry about outside influences. There are teams trying to beat us. We got to take care of ourselves. If we start worrying about other people, then we got problems.” There are many theories supporting Arrieta’s late-blooming career, from the differences between Baltimore’s rigid pitching philosophy and The Cubs Way, to snowballing confidence in a new city, to a Pilates routine and plant- based diet, to finding a work/life balance at the age of 30. This unbelievable run – the Cubs have won Arrieta’s last 17 regular-season starts – also coincides with a Major League Baseball drug-testing policy that might be the toughest in professional sports. “I remember being in Baltimore and talking with a lot of the other guys about how we can rid the game of people that are trying to cheat,” said Arrieta, who’s now a players’ union representative. “I feel like a lot of steps have been taken in the right direction to kind of eliminate all that. Because if I’m doing it the right way, I expect everybody to.” Arrieta is now the fourth reigning Cy Young Award winner to throw a no-hitter, joining an elite list that includes Sandy Koufax (1964), Bob Gibson (1971) and Clayton Kershaw (2014). Arrieta is 20-1 with a 0.86 ERA and 33 walks against 173 strikeouts in his last 24 regular-season starts, putting the Cubs on his broad shoulders and carrying them into World Series contention. “When you see it every day, and (watch) the way he goes about his business, you come to expect it,” Ross said. “So it’s not shocking to us in here, because he wants to be great and he prepares himself to be great.” -- CSNChicago.com Would Cubs see Willson Contreras as next man up at catcher? By Patrick Mooney The Cubs once had the luxury of not rushing Willson Contreras. With Miguel Montero, David Ross and Kyle Schwarber all deserving time behind the plate, the Cubs could give their catcher of the future a bridge year at Triple-A Iowa to prepare him for high-stress situations and the information overload. That major-league depth began to disappear by Game 3, once Schwarber crashed into Dexter Fowler in a season- ending outfield collision that tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee. Now Montero – who will turn 33 this summer and has already caught almost 8,000 innings in The Show – is dealing with a stiff back that hasn’t responded well to the cold Chicago weather. With Montero scratched from Tuesday’s lineup and said to be available off the bench – at least before the rain washed out Wednesday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field – the Cubs will have to lean even harder on Grandpa Rossy. Would Contreras be the next man up? “It depends on what happens,” manager Joe Maddon said. “You would have to look at a short-term situation or a long-term situation regarding who you may want to bring up, just based on roles.” Super-utility guy Javier Baez – who actually gained some catching experience in high school while developing into a first-round pick – is the emergency in-game option. Ross – who is 39 years old and planning to retire after this season – is already locked in as Jon Lester’s personal catcher. “I don’t want to beat him up,” Maddon said. “That would be a concern.” The Cubs do have some veteran Triple-A insurance with Tim Federowicz, who played parts of four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers between 2011 and 2014. But Contreras is already on the 40-man roster and would also be just a phone call away at Iowa. The big break might not come immediately with an injury, since Montero doesn’t see this as a disabled-list situation, but Contreras looks like a potential second-half energy boost, the same way Schwarber gave the team shots of adrenaline during last year’s playoff run. Contreras, who won a Southern League batting title last season, is hitting .375 through his first 14 games with Iowa and has the big arm that can shut down a running game. The questions revolve around how Contreras, who will turn 24 in May, can handle a pitching staff that has a 2.58 overall ERA, 16 quality starts through 20 games and all these different personalities.