Cub Tracks puts a lid on it

Game day today. No game yesterday. Cubs seek answers to their road woes in Philadelphia. We have ALL the Joe Maddon news, all in one convenient lump sum. Call J. G. Cub Tracks! 877-Cash-Cow. 877-Cash-Cow! Eight Seven Seven Cash COW!

The Cubs are just 23-35 away from home this season and have not won a road series in 11 tries. — Field Level Media.

Ouch. To have that stat and still maintain a tenuous hold on first place is admirable, but let’s dispense with the self-handicapping, Cubs. Or I’ll be forced to don my spear and magic helmet.

Let that be a lesson to you, Doc. 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. Italics are often used here as sarcasm font.

• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Joe Maddon on Cubs future: ‘I believe that we’ll be together for a couple more years, at least’. Maddon has called himself a pending “free agent” when others have referred to him as a “lame duck.” Jordan Bastian adds wisdom. Brett Taylor addresses this also. Tony Andracki takes his turn at bat. Evan Altman takes a whack. Bruce Miles won’t be left out.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Why Jon Lester may be poised for dominant stretch. “He just has high expectations of himself -- just like any of us here,” Kris Bryant said.
• Andrew Simon (MLB.com*): Contenders need these 10 guys to step up. Yu might have heard of one of them.
• Robert Kuenster (Forbes*): Rating the Cubs players for the best skills. “If a player had to take over the reins as manager, Anthony Rizzo would be the best fit.”
• (Cubs Insider): Kris Bryant posting best clutch numbers of career. “... a quick look at some common numbers presents convincing evidence for KB’s clutchness.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): ‘Death became very real for me’: How Nick Castellanos got even better at life and baseball. “This month marks the two-year anniversary of Castellanos learning his father’s brain cancer was in remission after successful surgery ...” Michael Cerami has additional thoughts about Castellanos.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): The Cubs’ chemistry experiment isn’t over. In fact, it’s really just beginning. “The Cubs have added Jonathan Lucroy, Castellanos, Craig Kimbrel, Tony Kemp, Derek Holland and David Phelps to the mix during the course of this season...”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): South Bend OF Brennen Davis isn’t as much of a project as the Cubs thought. “It wasn’t supposed to happen this quickly.”
• Cubs birthdays: Andre Thornton, Will Ohman, Corey Patterson.

Food for thought:

We’re not ready yet for flying cars. We may never be. Thanks for reading.