Cub Tracks maintains social distance

Monday was a day off for the simCubs and for the broadcast crew. The 55-23 Cubs will be back in action today, with Jon Lester (10-3, 2.36) taking the hill against the 42-36 Reds’ Anthony DeSclafani (6-3, 3.25). We expect good times, warm weather, and digital people in the stands, while we wait to see if the players agree to the precepts of a 60-game season.

In the meantime (and here’s plenty of mean), here’s the current standings and league leaders:

Here too are profiles of Jon Lester and Anthony DeSclafani, with some data the game supplies:

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. 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.

• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Even if the 2020 Major League Baseball season is salvaged, will we still feel the same about the game? “Summer is here, and we’re still waiting to find out if baseball will break our hearts.”
• David Schoenfield (ESPN*): MLB hitters who are missing their age-27 peak season in 2020. “When Bill James published his first national “Baseball Abstract” in 1982, one of his major studies showed that, in general, position players peaked at age 27.” Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber...
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs’ Yu Darvish weighs in on coronavirus concerns amid MLB’s attempt to return. In Japanese.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs sign first-round draft pick Ed Howard. A little more about the deal.
• Cubs birthdays: Jack Hardy. Also notable: Jim Deshaies

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.