Cub Tracks puts some sugar on it

Me and a finite amount of untrained monkeys are proud to bring to you today’s neo-Shakespearean tragicomedy, courtesy of our sponsor, Monday.

I don’t like Mondays any better than Brenda Spencer did (except for Rick Monday, who was one of my favorite players), for reasons I don’t care to go into right now. Monday the 21st was no exception to the general rule and no baseball made it worse.

Today, though, there’s baseball, and dry floors, and that’s good enough for me. Always look on the bright side, Eric Idle. The Cubs are at .500 after 20 games.

Anyway... today we have hot takes and pissing in the cornflakes by the usual suspects. Rick Morrissey has one that I find hard to follow, about Christian Yelich’s success making it more difficult to watch Kris Bryant. See what you think. Jordan Bastian has a saner take on the same concern. Larry Hawley has been reading Sarah’s stuff, seemingly... and Steve Greenberg says the Dodgers broke the Cubs. The Nico Hoerner watch continues... and more, in today’s Cubs News and Notes. As always, * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs just haven’t been the same since Dodgers put beating on them in 2017 NLCS. “The Cubs have never recovered from the four-games-to-one beating the Dodgers gave them.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Dodgers’ arrival at Wrigley Field provides surging Cubs a measuring stick: ‘Right now it can go either way’. “... the Cubs get an opportunity to show their recent surge is not a mirage.”
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs back Tyler Chatwood after big-time performance: ‘That’s not a fluke’. He’s capable of doing that kind of stuff. It’s a nice first step for him, but it was really fun and interesting to watch,” said Joe Maddon. Sahadev Sharma {$} agrees. Michael Cerami chimes in.
• Phil Rogers (Forbes* {$}): Could Chatwood pitch well enough for the Cubs to consider trading him this summer? “With Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Yu Darvish, Jose Quintana and Cole Hamels healthy, the only way for Chatwood to return to the rotation is if Maddon goes to a six-man mix.”
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): Reinforcements coming for Cubs pitching staff. Jon Lester threw a simulated game Saturday, at Wrigley Field, and Mike Montgomery made his second rehab start Monday with Double-A Tennessee.
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Imperfect storm: Carl Edwards Jr. fights through demotion, injury, racist taunts. “For now, Edwards’ focus is on getting back to the big leagues and helping the Cubs get to October again.”
• Madeleine Kenney (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs backup catcher Victor Caratini shows signs of progress after surgery. “... he was throwing but not catching.”
• Rick Morrissey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Christian Yelich’s start makes Kris Bryant’s that much tougher to watch for Cubs. Bryant “looks so uncomfortable at the plate that he might as well be on a blind date.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Inbox: Is Bryant’s start cause for concern? “I don’t think it’s time to worry about a 20-game sample predicting how things will go for the next five months.”
• Larry Hawley (WGN9): David Bote knows how to come through in the clutch for the Cubs. “It seems like that’s the spot he likes to be in,” said pitcher Tyler Chatwood of the second-year infielder. More Bote from Jordan Bastian. Still more Bote from Patrick Mooney {$}.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Hoerner hits inside-the-park home run. “... maybe Hoerner has Double-A pitching figured out.” Brett Taylor has some thoughts.
• Bill Quinn (Cubs Insider): Letters to Rob Manfred, Part 5: Blackouts aren’t fun for anyone. “Fans who pay money for a package to watch games don’t stay fans if you tell them they can’t watch the games they just paid for.”
• Cubs birthdays: Joe Kelly, Dolph Camilli, Carlos Silva, Emilio Bonifacio. Also notable: Jim Bottomley, Warren Spahn (HoF).

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading!