Cub Tracks’ two can play that game

Willson Contreras wears the ‘tools of knowledge’. I dream of Berwyn in the springtime.

Not quite as much stuff as yesterday, but here’s today’s Cubs News and Notes. As always * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs pitchers, manager no fans of drastic rule changes MLB testing in indy ball. “If Rob Manfred had any admirers in major league clubhouses before he became baseball commissioner four years ago, good luck finding one now.”
• B. Ellis (Beyond the Box Score): The Chicago Cubs have improved in spite of an uneventful off-season. ”If the rotation stays healthy this year, Cubs fans shouldn’t fret the uneventful off-season.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): A different breed: Cubs are chasing the Brewers in the homegrown-pitching department too. “I forget I had surgery sometimes,” said Justin Steele.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): What the Cubs are seeing in Yu Darvish: ‘Almost a different person’. “He knows he’s 100 percent entrenched with the team now,” said Kyle Hendricks.
• Tommy Birch (Des Moines Register {$}): Cubs prospect Adbert Alzolay headed back to Iowa. “Alzolay, who is ranked the second-best prospect in the organization according to MLB.com, was optioned to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs where he’s expected to start to the season.”
• Anthony Castrovince (MLB.com*): Javier Baez, ‘18 NL MVP runner-up, eyes ‘better year’. “I don’t pay attention to what’s going on and what people say. I don’t control it, and we don’t control it as a team,” he said.
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Why Cubs prospect Nico Hoerner might be in the fast track to the big leagues. “Hoerner presents the Cubs with depth at shortstop, both in the near future and in the long-run.” More love for Nico.
• Cubs birthdays: Dad Lytle, Gene DeMontreville, Bill Heath, Joe Campbell, Darcy Fast, Donnie Murphy,

Food for thought: