Cub Tracks shoulders blame

Well, that ended up well, so no recriminations are forthcoming. Nice job by Jon Lester. Cubs can earn the split today. Pedro Strop ftw.

It’s gonna be hard to move forward without Kris Bryant and Javier Baez, but that is what the Cubs have to do. Like most of you, I see David Bote in my scrying glass (right at the bottom, under the foam). Ryan Court’s not on the 40-man roster, or I’d think about him, too. Mark Zagunis might free up Ian Happ to play some infield, so that’s a vague possibility. Anyone else causes a round of roster jenga. I don’t see the Cubs making Eddie Butler do the DFA shuffle so they can add Court or Chris Coghlan.

Equally I don’t see them making a reactionary trade and bringing in an infielder from another organization, unless they determine that they need to DL KB for an extended period. He’s of good value even as a singles hitter, as we’ve seen this year.

Some of the linked articles speculate along those lines. Others don’t. The Cubs are a first-place club and a first-class organization, and I trust they will do what they can with the tools at their disposal. I’m interested to see what Theo Epstein and company come up with to solve this problem.

Here’s the news — as always * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

Cubs News and Notes:

Should he play, this’ll be Anthony Rizzo’s 1,000th MLB game.

The question of the day:

Jim Hickey on the Score [AUDIO].

• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): How the Cubs look at the trade market when big names go off the board. “The people who put together the team with the NL’s best record (59-42) know what they’re doing.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Who are the Cubs’ primary trade targets? And who can Cubs offer in return? “Epstein said Sunday that an impact trade would be difficult, but the pool of potential trade partners could expand as more teams fade from playoff contention.”
• Sean Sears (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs staying involved in talks for starter J.A. Happ. “Reports also surfaced Wednesday that the Blue Jays were also trying to move reliever Seunghwan Oh.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Cubs Trade Rumors: Price has dropped on Jays lefty JA Happ. “Exactly how far that has dropped and what is considered “reasonable,” however, is really anyone’s guess.”
• Merritt Rohlfing (Beyond the Box Score): Kyle Hendricks has lost his sinker. “The Cubs control artist isn’t getting results from his bread-and-butter pitch, and it’s wrecking his season.”
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): Yu Darvish able to throw on field today, will throw off the mound again in St. Louis. “...Darvish seems to have cleared at least one hurdle in this second rehab process.”
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com*): Bryant sits; Baez comes through in pinch. “We’re just going to try to go day by day and figure this thing out,” said Joe Maddon.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): An ominous warning about Bryant as Cubs try to find next offensive level and prepare for trade deadline. “The sense is the Cubs will likely mirror that 2015 trade-deadline approach that yielded a veteran starter (Dan Haren) to stabilize the rotation and a power arm (Tommy Hunter) for the bullpen.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Bryant’s shoulder could result in another trip to the DL. “Of course we want him back as soon as possible,” Maddon said. “But I don’t know that this is something you can necessarily rush right now.”
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): It’s officially time to start worrying about Bryant’s shoulder injury. “You never enjoy playing without his services if he’s one of your guys,” Maddon said. “But I’ve always been of that ilk that you can make things work in other ways.”
• Joe Reed (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): David Bote’s emergence, Ian Happ’s role, and the Cubs’ deadline options. “There is no doubt that trading away Happ would not be an easy or ideal choice.”
• Jon Greenberg (The Athletic {$}): Out of left field, Kyle Schwarber’s glove (and arm) are catching up to his bat. “The years have passed where I don’t feel as nervous on a fly ball anymore,” Schwarber said.
• Todd Johnson (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): Cubs’ draft class beginning to impact the minors. “It will be even more exciting next year to see all of them in their first full season of pro ball at Eugene, South Bend, Myrtle Beach, and if all goes well, maybe even Tennessee.”
• Tracy Swartz (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Suburban Chicago man shows off his Cubs cave on Netflix’s ‘Amazing Interiors’. Stewart McVicar’s his name. He has a big basement.

Food for thought:

• Daniel Clery (Science): Liquid water spied deep below polar ice cap on Mars. “It’s a very exciting result: the first indication of a briny aquifer on Mars,” says geophysicist David Stillman.
• Erin Blakemore (Popular Science): To understand fossils, scientists are baking their own. “Taphonomy, or the study of the fossilization process, has been part of paleontology since the 1950s...”
• Paul Voosen (Science): Outer space may have just gotten a bit closer. “A new study argues that the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space—known as the Kármán line—is 20 kilometers, or about 20%, closer than scientists thought.”

Thanks for reading. Go Cubs!