Cub Tracks’ born to be mild

That didn’t start well. Or end well. The Diamondbacks get a lot of mileage out of not overswinging and create some of their own luck. But Marte was out at the plate — I’m gonna stand by that. Nice work by Albert Almora Jr., though, and a couple of deep flies... I’ll take that going forward. The rest, well, you saw, too. Al has the details in the recap.

Usually I hate the other team’s announcers. Not so in this case... I always liked Bob Brenly and Steve Berthiaume isn’t terrible. I just would have liked a different game — that had lots of ugly. Ah well, a win today puts the Cubs in line for meatloaf.

That and the several narratives that spice up the zeitgeist are the meat of today’s Cubs News and Notes. Let’s hope the Cubs supply the taters again. As always, * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Cubs starters are pitching lights out. But asking them to throw complete games in this era is a tall order. “I loved watching them as a fan growing up. I loved the pitching duels. But there’s not too many of them anymore,” said Kyle Hendricks.
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Jon Lester returns to a very different, very confident Cubs team. “... we shouldn’t be surprised that the pitching, a major concern during that rough start, is now a strength.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): ‘He’s ready to fly’: Cubs are hoping for a breakout start from Yu Darvish on Saturday. “... the Cubs would be happy if Yu Darvish follows in the footsteps of Tyler Chatwood when he faces the Diamondbacks on Saturday.”
• Jake Rill (MLB.com*): High-ceiling right-hander called up to Cubs’ bullpen. Dillon Maples had multiple short stints in the Cubs’ bullpen over the last two seasons. “We’re just waiting for it to all come together with him,” Joe Maddon said.
• ESPN: Watch Brandon Morrow discuss his latest setback after minor off season elbow surgery. [VIDEO].
• Derek Montilla (AZ Sports): Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo makes donation to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. “Rizzo’s charity, the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, contributed $50,000 towards PCH’s Beach Ball 2020...”
• Laura Messer (Cubs Insider): What can historical splits tell us about Bryzzo’s slow start? “... Rizzo’s past results and the fact that both stars appear to be heating up as the calendar changes over to May tell us not to worry about what we’ve seen so far.”
• Rick Morrissey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Don’t cheer Addison Russell when he returns, Cubs fans (though I know you will). Ripped from the front page.
• Joey Gelman (Sports Mockery): MLB is failing to spread the stardom of Javier Baez. “Is MLB helping ‘El Mago’ spread his magic across the country to make even the most casual fan stop in their tracks upon seeing him? The answer is no.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Epstein: Risking interrupting Baez’s performance to accommodate Russell would be a “questionable move”. “You don’t risk deflating one of the game’s biggest stars to make room for a player who is lucky his team even kept him around,” wrote Ken Rosenthal. Matt Snyder agrees. Patrick Mooney {$} does, too. Jon Greenberg {$} has more. Tommy Birch adds on.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Cubs infielder Daniel Descalso’s time with the Diamondbacks taught him the importance of winning now: ‘The windows open and close quickly’. “The moral of the story is if you win, you probably get to keep your group together for longer,” Descalso said.
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs down on the farm: Updates on Addison Russell, Ian Happ, Carl Edwards Jr., Dillon Maples and Nico Hoerner. “It’s gonna take everybody this year,” Theo Epstein said.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Sinclair reportedly has ‘handshake agreement’ on $10 billion bid for 21 Fox RSNs. “Exactly how this will impact the Cubs and other teams remains open to speculation at this point...”
• Brianna Kelly (Crain’s Chicago Business): Cubs execs talk business of sports at Crain’s event. Crane Kenney and Hall-of-Famer Ryne Sandberg talked about the relationship between playing a successful game and running a successful business.
• Cubs birthdays: Rogers Hornsby (HoF), Joey Gathright.

Food for thought: