Cub Tracks’ all bets are off

The simCubs guaranteed at least a split in this weekend’s series with the San Diego simPadres and they’re 33-13 and all bets are off as far as a postseason berth. Right now, they’re ahead of the pace of the 2016 World Series Championship squad and they only seem to be getting better.

Friday the simCubs parlayed a brace of home runs into an 8-3 victory behind Yu Darvish’s excellent pitching and some adequate relief. Kris Bryant was 4-for-5 with a deep fly and Anthony Rizzo chipped in with a three-run blast of his own, off the batter’s eye in center field. The GLOAT is on a tear since moving to leadoff and KB seems rejuvenated. Darvish even chipped in with an rbi single.

I caught up with Brandon Palmer after the game and he explained that the players are on their own as far as advancing from first to second. “If a perfect play has to be made to get them out, and that perfect play is made, why then I tip my cap and say ‘good job’, and we go right on being aggressive,” he said. “Yes, I have heard the term TOOTBLAN before. I might even use it when I talk to the players before the game.”

Chris Paddack (3-2, 2.42) faces Kyle Hendricks (6-1, 1.16), who lost his last game but pitched well, as he has all season. The odds would appear to be in the Cubs’ favor.

Al will have more in the game post (at 2:30 p.m. CT, for our 3 p.m. start). I’ll drop the specific URL to the contest in the game thread, but you can lurk at the BCB Media Center and catch it there as well. All past games and highlights reels are available there too, if you want the full #simCubs experience.

And now, 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.

• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): How Cubs executives are planning for a potential reopening at Wrigley Field. “... Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts doesn’t know if the team will play baseball this year.” The Sun-Times staff wrote about this.
• Adam Hoge (NBC Sports Chicago*): For Major League Baseball, there’s too much at stake not to play. “This is a way to bring a lot more new eyes to our game,” Scott Boras said.
• NBC Sports Chicago*: Cubs Talk Podcast: 1-on-1 with MLB super agent Boras.
• Jayson Stark (The Athletic {$}): What happens if players choose not to play this season? “What if they start up the baseball season, and it starts without Rizzo? Or Jon Lester? Or David Dahl? Or Kenley Jansen?”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Players reportedly ask MLB owners to open the books. “... if the teams are going to ask players to accept a revenue sharing agreement this year, then they are going to have to be wildly transparent about every last detail on their revenue ...“ (per the Associated Press)
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Commissioner Rob Manfred is hopeful MLB can reach a deal with players to start the 2020 season — and says baseball could lose nearly $4 billion without games. “Manfred said “nothing is risk-free” but believes enough safety measures will be in place to reduce the risks. If a player decides he doesn’t want to play, Manfred said “we would never force them to come back to work. They can wait until they feel they’re ready to come.””
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): How Cubs’ Lester might be impacted by strain of shortened spring training. “... when you’re younger, it’s easier. Everything is easier,” Lester said.
• Shelly Verougstraete (Over the Monster): What if the Red Sox did not trade Rizzo? “... in an alternate universe, the Sox would have had first base locked up from 2011-2021...”
• Jake Crouse (MLB.com*): These NL Central players feel need for speed. “When Javier Báez reaches base, it’s best not to take your eyes off him.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Cubs ‘very confident’ Marquee will have Comcast deal as soon as baseball returns. “They were actually close back in March before things shut down, Crane Kenney said.”
• Cubs birthdays: Howard Fitzgerald, Rube Walker, Rick Reuschel, Bob Patterson, Mitch Webster. Also notable: Billy Martin, Jack Morris HOF.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading!