Cub Tracks plays small

Hey, no big deal. Cubs drop an ST game. I‘m not really sure of what to say and that isn’t my circus anyway. Al has the positive recap. Here we rake the muck and uncover the coverage, as one does.

You heard it here first? Let’s get small.

Here’s today’s episode of Cub Tracks News and Notes, the only links column that really matters. 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.

• Jake Rill (MLB.com*): David Ross learning how different spring is as manager. “I’m the manager now, so every detail matters,” Ross said.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): When the Cubs’ Will Venable needed coaching before interviewing for 3 managing jobs, he turned to an unlikely source: Football’s Pete Carroll. “After I got off the phone, I was ready to run through a wall for him,” Venable said.
• Dan Szymborski (ESPN+ {$}): Which risky MLB players can be team-breakers or fortune-makers? “Yu Darvish’s injury history makes him a significant risk ... Craig Kimbrel’s control may not ever recover to his pre-Boston years, but short-term homer totals like that tend to be flukes.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Darvish powerful in Cubs’ 4-3 loss to Brewers Saturday in Cactus League play. “Darvish made an eye-opening first start of the spring ...”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Fully healed from hip injury, Jeremy Jeffress says bullpen ‘Trying to band together’. “... I felt great out there, no problems with it, and I think I’m where I need to be.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Star tech: Lefty reliever Kyle Ryan calls fix Cubs made in their pitch lab ‘life-changing’. “Ryan might be the only left-hander in camp who is a lock to make the season-opening bullpen.”
• Tom Hadricourt (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel*): Hernán Pérez, now with the Cubs, had ‘weird’ feeling facing the Brewers for the first time. “I was part of that team for a long time. I miss those guys, too. But I have to do my job.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Ross very clear about Kris Bryant being everyday 3B, will still get OF reps. “I’m gonna play that by ear,” Ross said.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez is over the Cubs — even if Cubs fans still aren’t over the trade. “They know who I am,” he said.
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): How Dusty Baker inspired former Cub Adam Greenberg after scary head injury. “... Baker got a letter from a fan requesting a baseball card be signed.”
• Charles Curtis (For The Win*): Cubs announcer zings the Astros with a sign-stealing barb. “Chicago Cubs color commentator Jim Deshaies — who actually played for the Astros during his career — delivered this zinger...”
• Ryan Dempster on the Score [AUDIO].
• Bob Goldsborough (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Kerry Wood, retired Cubs pitcher, sells Winnetka mansion for $4.15 million. “Wood and his wife, Sarah, on Wednesday slimmed down their real estate portfolio further ...”
• Cubs birthdays: Paul Hines, Hank Wyse, Bob Usher, Doug Creek, Micah Hoffpauir, Trevor Cahill, Adbert Alzolay.

Food for thought:

Let’s get real small. Let’s get Martinized, too. Thanks for reading. Rants and raves at medium.