Cub Tracks Salutes All Of The Dads

Here's the latest from around the web:

From Comcast SportsNet Chicago:

• Starlin Castro wasn't happy with himself for his mental lapse on Friday night, saying that the lapse was "really embarrassing", but Joe Maddon still believes that Castro's mental focus can be fixed.
• Kyle Hendricks was willing to take the blame for the loss on Friday, saying that he was the one who wasn't making pitches.
• Castro did get some redemption on Saturday, hitting the game-winning single and making the final out with his glove.
• Jon Lester wasn't happy about coming out of the game in the seventh inning on Saturday, but he also will never second-guess a manager.
• The road to recovery continues for Cub players, with Jorge Soler starting to take batting practice and Mike Olt beginning a rehab assignment at Double-A Tennessee. Neil Ramirez and Jacob Turner are also at Tennessee continuing their rehab assignments.
• Kyle Schwarber will be going to Triple-A Iowa once the interleague games end unless, as Maddon puts it, "we move to the American League."
• How would Maddon have handled the Pablo Sandoval Instagram scenario?
• You probably know by know that the call for Tsuyoshi Wada to say "I am (a) badass" to reporters after his outing was actually Maddon's idea. This is why Maddon ordered him to do it.

From Cubs.com:

• Another reason that Kyle Schwarber is heading to Iowa, per Joe Maddon: He needs to hopefully get some work in the outfield once he finishes his "undergrad" catching program.
• Here's a pretty cool Father's Day story, as Starlin Castro talks about his two-year-old son Starlin Jr. who loves to play baseball with his dad every day.
• If Anthony Rizzo is headed your way down the line for a foul ball, you might want to hide your peanuts.

From ESPN Chicago:

• How do the Cub players know if they're going to be in the next game's lineup? They check their text messages.
• You already know about the Budweiser Bleachers; now there's also the Hornitos Hacienda. Maybe the Pepto (Bismol) Porch is coming next.

From CBS Chicago:

• Dan Bernstein looks at Joe Maddon and his ability to recognize the unmeasurable in a world filled with data-driven analysis.

From the Chicago Tribune:

• The current leader in the major leagues for consecutive games played is... Chris Coghlan?
• Kyle Schwarber knows that he still has work to do on some of his skills, and he's absorbing as much information as he can while he's with the big club to help him out.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

• Joe Maddon reminisced on the life of his father, who passed away in 2002, saying that "I think about my dad every morning without fail."
• Kyle Schwarber has at least one outside admirer of his skills as a catcher: Twins prospect Byron Buxton.
• Jason Hammel is extremely impressed by the Cubs' youngsters, saying that "this is the best group of young kids I've been around for sure."
• Who have the Cubs contacted about finding another starting pitcher? According to one source... everybody.

From the Daily Herald:

• Bruce Miles looks at the Cubs' young talent and hearkens back to the teams that were put together in the 1980s under Dallas Green.

From Bleacher Nation:

• [VIDEO] Why does Kris Bryant need to be in the All-Star Game? Because he has no friends.
• [VIDEO] It was like August 8, 1988 all over again as the Tennessee Smokies took to some tarp-sliding fun after their Thursday game was suspended.

From Chicago Cubs Online:

• The Cubs are seen as front-runners to land Ben Zobrist, at least according to Jayson Stark.
• The Cubs are also the first choice of Jonathan Papelbon, according to Jon Heyman.

From Cubs Insider:

• Given a list of seven Cub hitters and seven sets of batted ball velocities, can you match one to the other?

Miscellaneous:

• Our friends over at the SBN Twins' site Twinkie Town paid homage to Steve Goodman in their preview of Saturday's game.

Today's food for thought:

• If you could somehow find a way to live through the heat and sulfuric acid rain on Venus, you might be able to see some epic volcanic eruptions.
• Meanwhile, the NASA Dawn spacecraft recently sent back an image of a mountain on the dwarf planet Ceres that is three miles tall.
• And, finally... from the world of adorable animal photos, here's a baby panther chameleon.