Cub Tracks slays an egg

Good pitching beats good hitting, it’s said. Both teams enjoyed good pitching last night. Yu Darvish was out for blood. Cal Quantrill hit less bats than his father Paul used to. Craig Kimbrel’s curve looked sick. Mark Grace opined that he was happy to be retired when he saw that kind of pitching.

Unfortunately, the Cubs’ bats looked sicker for a long time. Daniel Descalso got the first hit, to lead off the seventh, when Hu was on the mound. And that opened the floodgates. Al will have details in the recap coming up at 8 a.m. CT.

Here’s 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.

• Joe Sheehan (Sports Illustrated*): Chicago Cubs 2020 Preview: Still talented enough to reach October. “If David Ross can turn around his team’s defense, perhaps by leaning significantly on data-driven positioning, the Cubs should contend for a playoff spot.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): The 2020 Cubs will let everyone else worry about what’s coming next. “It’s about the team,” Anthony Rizzo said. “... It’s about winning.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Cubs trim 5 more from spring roster, including Dakota Mekkes and James Norwood. “... there are just 13 more players to trim before setting the 26 who will be heading north.”
• (ESPN): Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish can guess your blood type. Anyone can guess. Darvish is right more often than not. Kelly Twardziak takes a sample. Reported on the front page.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Darvish or Kyle Hendricks will start on opening day against the Brewers, plus 2 other takeaways from Cubs spring training. “Jon is at a point in his career where, for me, Yu (Darvish) and Kyle (Hendricks) have thrown better,” Ross said. Also reported on the front page.
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs 2020 roster outlook: New MLB rule gives Victor Caratini chance for bigger role. “Last season, Caratini was the Cubs’ most successful pinch-hitter ...”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): REPORT: Cubs and Javy Báez talking extension, but there’s an Opening Day deadline. Jon Heyman started it. Tim Stebbins addresses this issue.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune*{$}): Rizzo understands the need to prevent the spread of coronavirus. But playing for no fans? ‘I would definitely fight against it.’ “Just because we play for the fans.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune*{$}): Cubs slugger Kris Bryant stresses safety in dealing with the coronavirus — even if it means playing in empty stadiums: ‘People’s lives mean more to me than baseball’. “This is really weird,” Bryant said. “This is very strange.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Bryant: Hitting leadoff ‘going really good for me’. “I’m not going to really change who I am as a player or my approach at the plate,” Bryant said.
• Doug Padilla (Chicago Sun-Times*): Steven Souza Jr. working on fine-tuning his swing. “I think the timing of being off a year is a question, for sure,” Ross said.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Cubs reserve outfield considerations: Souza’s readiness, Albert Almora’s development, Ian Miller’s speed. “The Cubs’ nominal starting outfielders are Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ, and Jason Heyward, from left to right.”
• Dan Santaromita (NBC Sports Chicago*): Five Cubs crack ESPN’s ‘top 100 players in baseball’ list. “Javy Baez led the way at No. 21, followed by Bryant (24), Rizzo (56), Willson Contreras (70) and Darvish (80).”
• Cubs birthdays: George Moolic, Doc Curley, George Maisel, Bud Tinning, Johnny Callison, Horacio Pina.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading. Rants and raves at medium.