Cub Tracks evens it up

Well, damn. Strasburg, innit? Not entirely unexpected. Kind of like meeting Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolf Man, and Dracula. Jon Lester didn’t distinguish himself, and the Cubs played Abbott and Costello. I want my mummy.

Berrrwyn!

“Davy oughta protest the protest.” — Joe Girardi.

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).

“I just couldn’t repeat my mechanics,” Lester said. “I couldn’t repeat pitches. I’d make a good one, and then three bad ones. It seemed like when I made a good one, they’d foul it off. For the most part, I found too many barrels. Even the outs were hard hit.”

• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Trade schooled: Cubs’ worst trades of the last 50 years. Deals and steals. Fun.
• ESPN: Watch Joe Maddon discuss why he protested the game against the Nationals [VIDEO].
• Jeff Seidel (MLB.com*): Jon Lester endures rare blip, can’t contain Nats. “Lester (3-2) gave up at least one run in three of the innings he pitched and retired the Nationals in order just once.” Mark Gonzales has similar sentiments.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber is hitting .175 in May. But he has emerged as Joe Maddon’s best leadoff option. “We’ve done it in the past,” said Maddon, referring to Schwarber’s disastrous start in 2017 that led to his demotion to Triple-A Iowa. “But he’s different now.” Jeff Seidel (MLB.com) expands the zone. Gordon Wittenmyer wants a mulligan.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Darwin Barney is part of a group that wants an MLB team in Portland: ‘I’d be in the minority group, not even close to a Ricketts, obviously’. “... but it would be fun to be part of it and see where it goes.”
• Phil Thompson (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Weather delays his return, but the Carlos Zambrano effect is in full force for the independent Chicago Dogs. “The debut of the former Cubs starting pitcher on Friday as a member of the independent-league Dogs had everything you could imagine — except Zambrano’s debut.”
• Cubs birthdays: Ed Hutchinson, Pop Williams, Curt Simmons, Luis Salazar, Fritzie Connally, Turk Wendell, Scott McClain, Josh Paul.

Food for thought: