Cub Tracks Wants To Make A Statement

Here's the latest from around the web.

From Comcast SportsNet Chicago:

• The Cubs are looking to make a statement while they're in St. Louis. As Miguel Montero puts it: "We can beat anybody. We just have to prove it."
• Carl Edwards, Jr. got the call to the big leagues and made his debut on Monday. Joe Maddon believes that he's "that kind of a talent that can be impactful now, going into October."
• Maddon is keeping an eye on Jake Arrieta's innings, but not to fear; he's not going to be on an innings limit this season.
• And just in case you still haven't seen Kris Bryant's mammoth homer from Sunday, here it is again.

From Cubs.com:

• Kyle Schwarber went through his regular pregame hitting before Monday's game and said "it felt good." He still is day-to-day and is trying not to rush things even though he's looking forward to getting back in the lineup.
• The fact that it was against his former team didn't make Miguel Montero's grand slam any more special to him. In his words: "I just want to get a hit against everybody."
• A dilemma that Joe Maddon is facing down the stretch: Trying to keep the bullpen fresh with a rotation that hasn't gone as deep in games as he would like to see. And on top of that, a rotation that's also reaching its career highs in innings pitched.
• Phil Rogers writes that Maddon is a manager who has thought about the long term since the beginning of the season. He loses points for invoking the 1969 Cubs and Leo Durocher, though.

From ESPN Chicago:

• For those who may not know just how the magic number is calculated, Jesse Rogers has a primer.
• [AUDIO] Rogers spoke with Miguel Montero on his latest podcast.
• There has been discussion as to just how far Kris Bryant's homer really went, with one source saying 467 feet and another saying 495 feet. Byrant doesn't know just how far it went because, like all of his other homers, he wasn't watching it.

From CBS Chicago:

• Kris Bryant is a likely candidate to win the National League Rookie of the Year, writes Chris Emma, but there are still a lot things that Bryant thinks he can improve.
• Jake Arrieta is familiar with the Matt Harvey situation in New York and supports Harvey's decision, saying that "if 180 [innings] is what everyone in the medical field is telling him, it's tough to go against that."

From the Chicago Tribune:

• Chris Kuc looks at the roller-coaster career of Chris Coghlan.
• Austin Jackson is getting used to playing right field and is also enjoying the atmosphere at Wrigley Field, saying that "it's almost like that playoff atmosphere already."

From the Daily Herald:

• Connor McKnight looks at one way that the Cubs' lineup can keep producing with Kyle Schwarber on the sidelines, and possibly even when he returns to the lineup.

From Cubs Den:

• With Mike Olt now playing on the South Side, John Arguello looks at the loss of Olt from the roster and just how much the roster has changed in the past few years.

From Bleacher Nation:

• The Cubs' rotation could line up pretty well against the Pirates for the rest of the season if it holds up, with Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester possibly pitching in both of the remaining series against Pittsburgh.
• We hardly knew ye: Rafael Soriano was released by the Cubs over the weekend.
• [VIDEO] Jonathan Herrera took a curtain call after his homer in Sunday's game, which led to one extremely humorous issue... nobody in the crowd was really asking for one.

Miscellaneous:

• From the "Whatever happened to..." files: Our friends over at sister site DRays Bay look at the rise and fall of former Cubs prospect Hak-ju Lee.

Today's food for thought:

• [VIDEO] There are very few factories left that make audio cassette tapes, and the largest one is in Springfield, Missouri... where business is apparently booming.
• Someday in the future, it may be possible to have a refrigerator in your home that uses... the power of magnets.