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ALL THE NEWS THAT’S PRINTED TO FIT

#narratives — Yu Darvish is in the best shape of his life, and he has the best stuff of his life. Kyle Schwarber has so much clout, the ghost of Mike Royko is about to start writing about him, and he misses Jon Jay! He’s not alone. Yes, sir, Senator!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it~!

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).

“You can almost put five guys in a hat and pull one out and say, ‘OK, yeah, that one sounds good,’” Jon Lester said. “I love our rotation. I love kind of how unique each one of our guys are. I know we’ve got three lefties right now, but we’re all very different in how we go about things. I like our guys. I like our rotation. We’re in a good place right now.” — Jordan Bastian.

NBC Sports: Who’s the toughest opponent you’ve ever faced [VIDEO].

Kris Bryant talks on the Score [AUDIO]. Joe Girardi talks too [AUDIO].

Luke Farrell needs surgery.

• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): The story behind ‘When It Happens’ and how the motivated Cubs are rebooting the system. “It’s good that the expectations are high,” Joe Maddon said.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Behind Jon Lester, Cubs rotation looks to rebound after 2018’s inconsistencies. “If everything works as expected, the rotation could return to the dominance of ’16, which should take pressure off the lineup.” Related: Lester named Cubs’ Opening Day starter.
• Brandon Miller (Cubs Insider): Lester’s velocity increased as weather warmed in 2018. “...keep in mind that it took the legendary southpaw two months to ease into his normal velocity range in 2018.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cole Hamels works on offspeed pitches in sim game. ”This was the first time that I’ve thrown majority offspeed pitches, just trying to really put those in the repertoire, and it’s different throwing in a bullpen than when a guy steps in. There’s a little bit more intensity,” Hamels said.
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs have unique insight as Yu Darvish and Brandon Morrow come back from arm injuries. “Alec Mills may not be a household name, but he serves as a great example for a pair of high-profile pitchers on the Cubs roster.”
• Brandon Miller (Cubs Insider): Illustrating Darvish’s two different types of sliders. “I can’t wait to see him carve up batters with one MLB’s most diverse pitch repertoires.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs closer Brandon Morrow to throw first spring bullpen session March 25. “He played long toss again Monday, from 120 feet, and expects to extend that to 135 and 150 feet over seven more sessions before the bullpen.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Sources: Cubs restructure Brad Brach’s contract, but ‘everything’s fine’ after long free-agency process. “Everybody’s stories are very similar now,” Brach said.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): It’s simple: Watch Kris Bryant fully explain launch angle In under 60 seconds. “The goal is to hit the ball hard, consistently, and do maximum damage, which means keeping it in the air.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Crouching Schwarber, Hidden Slugger: Has a Cubs hitter found what he’s been missing? “The brain is a funny thing,” Schwarber said.
• Tim Brown (Yahoo Sports): Cubs’ Joe Maddon is ‘iPad-ing these days’ to figure out doomsday prediction for 2019 season. “I’m not a bulletin board guy. I’m a T-shirt guy,” he said.

Food for thought:

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