Cub Tracks exercises option

It sure is easier on the ears and the mind to watch and listen to Len and JD instead of a bunch of ESPN talking heads. That was disappointingly bad. Not that Marquee’s telecast as seen on MLB.TV was great ... the commercial breaks need work. But after ESPN and Matty V, it was musical.

I dislike the part about the White Sox scoring so many runs early, though. Hopefully the Cubs’ time will come. Yu Darvish looked a little off. Maybe it’s his grip.

RIP, Chris.

And now, without further ado, 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* {$}): Who knows how long it will last, so savor this summer of baseball in Chicago. “I can’t sit here and lie and say I thought we were going to play the season, even when we reported to camp,” Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Yes, the Cubs are really back: ‘Starting to feel like the season around here’. “It feels real,” David Ross said
• Phil Rosenthal (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Winners and losers from the White Sox-Cubs exhibition game, including Tim Anderson’s shot on — and at — ESPN: ‘I thought y’all guys forgot about us’. “Their dearth of exposure might be understandable given their last winning season was 2012.”
• Russell Dorsey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs pitchers adjusting to new MLB protocols. “Pitchers will have to find new ways to grip the baseball to be in compliance with MLB’s new rules.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Kyle Hendricks on using his curve: ‘Best it’s felt’. “My curveball, I’ve been working on a ton,” Hendricks said.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs using Jon Lester and Alec Mills as a tandem is solely for Wednesday’s exhibition game and not the regular season, Ross says. “Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy added it’s wise to use multiple relievers for two innings and not target one pitcher to piggyback.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): REPORT: Cubs’ second round fireballer Burl Carraway will be added to the Cubs player pool. Jordan Bastian hinted at it, Evan Altman says they have a source with knowledge of the situation.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Anthony Rizzo ‘Very Optimistic’ for Wednesday return, Opening Day start. “I definitely would love to play Wednesday to get live at-bats off a different team,” Rizzo said. Russell Dorsey adds on.
• Bruce Levine (670 The Score*): Nico Hoerner growing more comfortable with Cubs. “The first draft meeting I took part in, Nico was our first pick,” Ross said.
• Cubs birthdays: Johnny Evers HOF, Billy Holm, Moe Drabowsky, Nelson Mathews, Kyuji Fujikawa.

SimNews: Monday, July 20 games. The simCubs were thoroughly pummeled by the simWhite Sox 8-2. Nico Hoerner’s ninth-inning two-run blast was the only Cubs highlight, and a hiccup with the game ate that.

We have one more live stream before the real Cubs start, this afternoon. Al will have more about the game in the game post at 2:30 p.m. CT, after which 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.

SimGames will continue to be played according to the original daily schedule and they will be posted at approximately 9 a.m. NL Central Time each gameday, starting Thursday with the four-game set against the Cardinals.

Should the actual MLB season be curtailed, we will resume livestreaming.

Food for Thought:

Thanks for reading.