Cub Tracks throws from the side

Craig Kimbrel is gonna pitch today. Happy belated birthday to Lester Strode. Happy birthday, Steve Cishek!

The White Sox are at Wrigley, minus Harrelson. Hey Hawk! Wrigley doesn’t like you either.

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). {$} means paywall. {$] means limited views.

“We’d like to try to find a way to get some big road wins and turn that around,” Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said this weekend. “We can’t keep on making up for our road trips with great homestands. We have to try to find a way to get in a rhythm on the road as well.” — Jordan Bastian.

• Tim Bannon (Chicago Tribune* {$}): 7 things to know about the Cubs-Sox City Series, including whatever happened to the BP Cup and WGN-TV’s swan song. “Emotion runs high in a City Series,” Sox marketing director Brooks Boyer said.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): 6 things to look for in the City Series, including Eloy Jimenez’s Wrigley Field debut and Lucas Giolito vs. Jon Lester. “While the Cubs are still the better team, it’s not as one-sided as it appeared heading into the season.”
• Daniel R. Epstein (Beyond the Box Score): What’s up with Yu Darvish? “Darvish has been one of the most disappointing pitchers in baseball this season.” Mark Gonzales has more of Yu.
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Q factor: Cubs’ competitive window needed Jose Quintana trade ‘like oxygen’. “... the Cubs might not have been a playoff team the last two years without giving up top prospects Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease for Quintana.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Adbert Alzolay is the pitching prospect who can make Cubs fans forget about Dylan Cease. “Staying healthy is the No. 1 thing for him,” Theo Epstein said.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Steve Cishek best in MLB at limiting hard contact. “The sidewinding righty’s 18.2% hard contact makes him the only pitcher in MLB below 20% and his 35.1% soft contact leads the league as well.”
• Bruce Miles (Daily Herald * {$}): Kimbrel just latest in long line of big-name closers acquired by Chicago Cubs, with mixed results. “... let’s “buckle our seat belts” and take a wild ride over the past 25 seasons.”
• Todd Johnson (Cubs Insider): Duane Underwood’s quiet move to the bullpen going well so far. “He’s thrown 7.1 innings and has struck out eight with four walks with a fastball that sits at 97-98 most nights.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Willson Contreras eyeing back-to-back All-Star starts. Both Contreras and shortstop Javier Báez are currently in position to advance to the next round of the voting in the Starters Election. Seven in all are hoping for ASG berths.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Inbox: Why has Baez been struggling? “... his downturn in production has lined up with when the problem (his heel) came up.”
• Cubs birthdays: Taylor Phillips, Lou Brock (HoF), Felix Heredia, Chris Coghlan, Steve Cishek.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.