Cub Tracks has a winning personality

The simCubs roll on and are now 53-21. Jon Lester didn’t get his 11th as he departed with men on base, but on the other hand, he gets a no decision after leaving with men on base. Jesus Luzardo came on and did his usual excellent job for the recorded win, the rest of the bullpen followed suit (mostly) and at least didn’t allow the tying run, and the Cubs broke open a close game in the sixth. Jason Kipnis continued his solid season with two home runs, (one of which was a grand slam), driving in six runs, Anthony Rizzo (22, 23) clubbed two of his own to extend his league lead and drive in 4 runs of his own, and Kris Bryant and Willson Contreras added solo shots as the Cubs won 14-6.

Lots of highlights! Lester got the scoring started with a sac fly and that was it until Kipnis hit his first titanic blast to get the party going. That opened the floodgates.

You should also know that the Iowa Cubs are 50-16 and 17 games ahead of the Redbirds, who are 33-33. That’s by far the best record in the league, and there are a hos of reason why as players are fighting to remain on the radar of a first-place MLB club. Josh Phegley is hitting a robust .352 with 13 HR and league-leading 47 RBI and .444 OBP, .626 SLG, and 1.070 OPS. Albert Almora Jr., Steven Souza Jr. and Brett Phillips are all contributing their good hitting and MLB exoerience, but the real strength of Iowa is the pitching — Miguel Rincon is 9-1, Jharel Cotton is 7-1, Adbert Alzolay is 7-3, Danny Hultzen is 5-2, and staff ace Max Fried is 4-1 with a 2.54 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 1.1 WAR in just over a month since he was sent down. Plus there’s a selection of players on the Iowa shuttle that are helping the cause.

The Smokies have improved and are now 35-31, good for second place, and they’re only three games behind the 38-28 Generals. They have finally gotten over the loss of leadoff man Brennen Davis, who is tearing up Triple-A now, and have replaced him with Chad Fritz, who doesn’t exist in our reality but kicks ass in his.

Today Steven Matz faces off against Tyler Chatwood for the steak dinner. The Cubs have already cooked and eaten the meatloaf and the crowd will be awaiting a clean sweep. Al will have more about the game in the game post at 2:30 p.m. CT, and then I’ll post the actual url to the stream at 3 p.m. CT. Or you can catch the game at the BCB Media Center and also catch past games and game videos, 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.

Commissioner Rob Manfred: “At my request, Tony Clark and I met for several hours yesterday in Phoenix. We left that meeting with a jointly developed framework that we agreed could form the basis of an agreement and subject to conversations with our respective constituents. I summarized that framework numerous times in the meeting and sent Tony a written summary today. Consistent with our conversations yesterday, I am encouraging the Clubs to move forward and I trust Tony is doing the same.”

• Jayson Stark (The Athletic {$}): If you think Major League Baseball is ugly now ... “It has been the first round of the biggest fight of the 21st century in any sport: an epic donnybrook over baseball’s future.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Is baseball nearing a return? All we can do is hope for the best after the latest up-and-down negotiations. “After a face-to-face meeting in Arizona on Tuesday between Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and players’ union leader Tony Clark, Manfred said the two had agreed on the “framework” of a deal that would restart the 2020 season.” Brett Taylor opines. Evan Altman offers thoughts. Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich elaborate {$}.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): While MLB does whatever it is doing, Yu Darvish is out inventing new pitches in the bullpen. “... a hybrid of his splitter and his two-seam fastball ...”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Why Cubs’ Willson Contreras is skeptical of reported MLB-MLBPA deal. “I believe it when I see it,” Contreras tweeted.
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo misses the little things about baseball during its hiatus. “I miss walking to Wrigley Field every day and I miss that run out to first base, just the energy you get from the fans,” he said.
• Bob Goldsborough (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs’ Jason Kipnis puts Northbrook home on the market for $1.375 million. “Former Chicago Bears wide receiver Taylor Gabriel rented the house from 2018 until the team cut him in early 2019.”
• Maddie Lee (NBC Sports Chicago*): Jason Heyward calls for change in ‘Race in America: A candid conversation.’ “We’ve got to be aware that we need to speak,” Heyward said.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Looks like Universal DH could be here to stay. “Sorry, purists, the hour of your discontent is nigh.” Matt Kelly (MLB.com*) has more. Brett Taylor offers thoughts.
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): ‘Our fans are going to love him’: Can Burl Carraway be elite for the Cubs? “We envision him as a guy who has a chance to be an elite arm in the big leagues,” Dan Kantrovitz said.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Jordan Nwogu nearly didn’t make Michigan’s baseball team. Now he’s 1 of the Chicago Cubs’ top draft picks: ‘There is no finish line with his growth and improvement.’ “He is the most improved player I’ve coached from start to finish,” said Michigan coach Eric Bakich.
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Scott Servais breaks down Sammy Sosa’s 1998 season, era’s steroid speculation. “... it’s not for me to judge and throw somebody under the bus,” he said. “It was an unbelievable season. It was a lot of fun to be part of in ’98,” Servais said on the podcast (linked in the article).
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): This string of trades brought Ryne Sandberg to Cubs. “The selection of left-hander Ken Holtzman in the 1965 MLB Draft initiated a trade tree with branches to three Hall of Famers and other notable names.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs President Theo Epstein’s foundation to hold virtual charity concert for the 1st time. “The concert, featuring Grammy Award-winning artists Common, James Taylor, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, will be shown on YouTube at 7 p.m. June 25.”
• Cubs birthdays: Taylor Phillips, Lou Brock HOF, Felix Heredia, Chris Coghlan, Steve Cishek.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading!