Cub Tracks Has A Higher Gear

Here's the latest from around the web.

From Comcast SportsNet Chicago:

• Apparently this isn't even Jake Arrieta's final form. He believes that he has another gear that will allow him to dominate the competition every time that he pitches.
• Playing stupid is actually a compliment, says Joe Maddon.  In his words: "You're not overanalyzing anything."
• When Miguel Montero returns to the roster, could the domino effect work its way to Jorge Soler?
• Patrick Mooney writes about social media and its the impact that it left on this year's trading deadline as well as the various Cubs who use it.

From Cubs.com:

• After a rough month of July -- and that's putting it nicely -- there's hope that Tuesday's outing could help to jump start Starlin Castro.
• After his rain-shortened outing on Monday, Jon Lester will pitch again on Friday against the Giants. The move in the rotation will push Kyle Hendricks out one day from his normally scheduled start.
• Phil Rogers gives his take on the rest of the season for the top three teams in the National League Central.

From ESPN Chicago:

• Stepping up to the Twitter Mailbag this week is Jason Hammel, fielding hard-hitting baseball questions such as: Who's the best dancer on the team?
• Regardless of how it plays out, Joe Maddon will have some interesting choices to make with the lineup once Miguel Montero comes back.
• Jake Arrieta is obviously on a roll. His peripherals are right there with him on the journey.
• As for Jorge Soler's defensive metrics... well, they don't look that hot.

From CBS Chicago:

• Clayton Richard is back with the big club again as Rafael Soriano heads to the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. And possibly a sprained neck from watching all of the hard-hit balls against him.
• On the Javier Baez front, Joe Maddon told Jason Goff that he hasn't had any conversations about Baez coming up soon.

From the Chicago Tribune:

• Starlin Castro may not be impressing with his bat, but his glove is definitely catching Joe Maddon's eye.
• Not only will Jon Lester's next start be at home, his next four starts are all scheduled to be at Wrigley Field.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

• This struck me as a bit peculiar: Gordon Wittenmyer writes (well, not that part) about Starlin Castro and attention deficit disorder, even though he's never been asked to be tested for it.
• Something something correlation and causation: The Cubs are 12-3 in the last 15 games in which David Ross was the starting catcher.
• Could Jake Arrieta win the Cy Young award this season? Dan Plesac thinks there's a chance.
• If you had to choose between Arrieta and Jon Lester in one game, who would you pick? Rick Morrissey gives his choice.
• Len Kasper asked the Twitterverse what they thought of the word "Cubbies" being used by broadcasters. Responses were... not that favorable.

From the Daily Herald:

• In the Alternate Universe game, Bruce Miles looks at the question: What if Theo Epstein had stayed in Boston?

From Cubs Den:

• John Arguello writes an in-depth article about the Cubs' revamped approach of examining the catcher position.
• Arguello also looks at the Cubs' need to improve from within and how they might go about doing so.

From Cubs Insider:

• The Cubs have the best rotation in baseball, at least by FIP standards.
• The High-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans are having an interesting promotion on Thursday night: Old School Hip Hop Night with Biz Markie. But you say he's just a friend...

Miscellaneous:

• Billy Frijoles from Athletics Nation chronicles his visit as a jealous Athletics fan to Wrigley Field over the 4th of July weekend.
• Feeling good about Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer? Let MLB Daily Dish know as they get ready to introduce their first set of GM Confidence Ratings.

Today's food for thought:

• Want to try your hand as the Curiosity rover on Mars? Give it a whirl with this simulator from NASA.
• And for the history buffs out there, here's a story about "Project X-Ray" from World War II, an interesting plan to bomb Japan... with hundreds of bats.