Cub Tracks Put On Hold

Two days without Cubs is as bad as a conference call with collection agents. I don't know how I made it though the winter.

* autoplay reminder

Number on speed dial.

• Patrick Mooney (CSN Chicago*): Why Cleveland Browns studied the Cubs way before hiring Paul DePodesta. In part because Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer and Browns chief revenue officer Brent Stehlik used to work together with the San Diego Padres.
• Bruce Levine (CBS Chicago*): Dexter Fowler signing was front-office genius. "We had been talking to Theo the whole time," said Fowler.
• John Stolis (Number Fire): Dexter Fowler, not Bryce Harper, is the National League MVP so far. The numbers don't lie.

This is a recording.

• CBS Chicago: Joe Maddon pleased with Javier Baez' aggressiveness, adjustments. "It’s rare you’re developing somebody at the major league level under those circumstances," Maddon said. Includes [AUDIO] from the Spiegel and Goff Show.
• Morty Ain (ESPN*): Jake Arrieta Q&A. [VIDEO] and transcript.
• MLB Network: Jon Lester discusses collecting his first extra-base hit. [VIDEO]
• 538.com: Are the Cubs baseball's answer to the Warriors? [AUDIO]

Smooth operator.

• Patrick Mooney (CSN Chicago*): Addison Russell in the middle of red-hot start for Cubs. "We’re the frontrunners right now," Russell said. "We’re embracing it. We love it."
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com): Joe Maddon commends Kyle Hendricks for 'getting it'. Hendricks was lifted in what Joe Maddon called a 'National League moment'.
• Larry Scott (Today's Knuckleball): Cubs better off starting Javier Baez over Jorge Soler. "...the Cubs’ best defensive starting eight features Baez at third base and Kris Bryant in left."
• Jesse Rogers (ESPN): The guy the Cubs got for Starlin Castro is pretty good. Adam Warren has pitched very well so far.
• John Arguello (Cubs Den): The method behind the Cubs' retooled, relentless offense. "On the surface, the Cubs offense seems to be sputtering.
• Neil (Chicago Cubs Online): Cubs keep Adam Warren stretched out. Joe Maddon explained that his two-inning outing Tuesday was part of the plan to keep Warren stretched out.

Courtesy call.

• Jesse Rogers (ESPN): Rainout gives Jake Arrieta another day off. Arrieta will have to wait one more day in an attempt to become the second pitcher in history to throw consecutive no-hitters.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune): Jake Arrieta laughs off talk PEDs fueled turnaround. "I think it's funny because I've always been in good shape," Arrieta said Tuesday. "I just sucked early in my career, from a statistical perspective.
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times): Jake Arrieta calls PED speculation by fellow players 'flattering'. Nobody’s ever said it to his face. "Nobody’d be stupid enough to do that," Arrieta said.
• Michael Cerami/Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Happy Jake Arrieta Day: No-hitter fun, extension talks, and lame steriod chatter. And Stephen A. Smith is a dimbulb.
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic): PEDs? Jake Arrieta more of a PLP user. Plants and Lean Protein, that is. Seriously, this is doubtful. "There aren’t any chemicals that help you hit your spots or rotate your hips properly."
• Ken Schultz (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): Fueled by doubt, Jake Arrieta ascends. "At age 27, Jake Arrieta was so wracked with self doubt about the direction of his career that he considered going into sales."
• Aldo Soto (Sports Mockery): Here's why Jake Arrieta is calling fans idiots. Well, some fans. And some sports people. And justifiably so.

Person-to-person.

• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times): Cubs, Sox on rare collision course. It's only April, but..."If we could both sustain this kind of play, it could make for a very interesting summer," Joe Maddon said.
• Myles Phelps (Cubs Den): The next problem with PEDs. "...what happens as fans is that we become skeptical."
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): The ever-expanding role of analytics, and the growing front office. "...the real battleground has appeared in the research and development departments between teams themselves." Expanding on an article from 538.
• Aldo Soto (Sports Mockery): David Ross has a perfectly rational response to fans campaign to make him an All-Star. "I don't want anything I don't deserve."
• John Sickels (Minor League Ball): Prospect retrospective: Jake Arrieta, RHP, Chicago Cubs. "...a look at Arrieta's history, what he was like as a prospect, and where he stands in historical context."

Food for thought:

• Meghan Rosen (Science News): Words' meanings mapped in the brain. "...we need to rethink how the brain organizes meaning."
• Melainna Juntti (Mens Journal): 10 minutes to fit: A science-backed cardio workout. Jake Arrieta does this on the way to the bathroom. In a minute flat.
  
• Alexandra Ossola (Popular Science): Twisted proteins may give plants a memory. If you read into it, the memories may prove to be transferable.

Gotta go. I'm waiting for a collect call from Cthulhu. He's dreaming of a World Series, too.

(c) 2016 Luis Duarte