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Watching the Cubs so far feels like being Glass Joe for 12 rounds.
From Comcast SportsNet
- Trade forces are lining up, meaning Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija could be on the move sooner rather than later.
- And after another loss, teammates are feeling bad for Shark.
- Anthony Rizzo is learning to take what he can get when it comes to shifting defenses.
- The city's extremely crappy weather is no excuse for the Cubs.
- In a year when pitchers are going under the knife for Tommy John surgery seemingly left and right, the Cubs hope Arodys Vizcaino can be a comeback story.
- The team also hopes Kris Bryant can help shift the conversation from talking about the future to talking about the present.
- Javier Baez has to find his way out of a big slump.
- (Video) The Sports Talk Live panel derisively wonders if any Cub prospects can match what Jose Abreu has done for the White Sox.
From Cubs Den
- John Arguello compares Javier Baez to fictional Rocky character Clubber Lang. Baez has to learn how to box.
- CD's draft board has narrowed down to 10. For now.
- So far, five minor leaguers are early surprises who are outperforming their projections.
From Cubs.com
- Reliever Zac Rosscup was relieved by his MRI results.
- It seems the Cardinals are always offended by something. This time it was a high fastball delivered by Neil Ramirez to Yadier Molina.
- There will be plenty o' mock drafts the next few weeks. The Cubs nab Alex Jackson in this one.
- Welington Castillo is getting better at calling a game.
- Darwin Barney says he is ready to pitch, if needed. When you hit the way Darwin does, you should probably be a pitcher, anyway.
From ESPNChicago.com
- Trade value will soon be a big storyline for the Cubs. Gotta say I laughed at two of the three names on the list.
- Kris Bryant is producing, but staying patient.
- Jesse Rogers says the patient approach with Mike Olt is misguided. Of course, by going the line of writers who think this is Mike Olt vs. Luis Valbuena, he renders most of his point moot.
- (Insider) Buster Olney examines the trade market for Jeff Samardzija. I'm not an Insider, so I don't know the conclusion. But it's hard to imagine almost any contender who wouldn't be interested.
From the Chicago Tribune
- The recently injured draft prospects may not fall down draft boards as much as you might think.
- Jeff Samardzija's maturation is almost complete.
- For those who track such things, Ryan Dempster has bought another property on the north side. I have absolutely no clue why this article is behind their registration wall.
From the Chicago Sun-Times
- Welington Castillo has a fan in St. Louis. His name? Yadier Molina.
From the Daily Herald
- Cub fans are itching to promote Kris Bryant.
Miscellaneous
- Not specifically Cub, but good weekend fodder. Fangraphs looks at the cost of Tommy John surgery.
Today's food for thought
- A couple of Japanese baseball teams commemorated Star Wars Day earlier this month. Now hitting: Darth Vader.
- Dunes let us study one of Earth's fastest geological processes.
- In the Martian sky, the path of the sun looks like a teardrop.