Cub Tracks’ if at first

Well, some of the Cardinals have the ‘rona so they didn’t play yesterday and won’t play today or Sunday. The virus is nothing if not persistent.

Speaking of persistent, we ran an exciting episode of the simCubs™ season in lieu of real baseball™. The simCubs pulled their fat out of the fire when Jason Heyward came up for eventual winner Jesus Luzardo (number 9) and swatted a clutch double to left-center, unloading the bases. Tyler Olson, Brandon Morrow, and Craig Kimbrel tossed scoreless frames and the Cubs took the first of three games.

David Bote smacked a home run to left center and added a two-base hit. There are plenty of other highlights! The rest of this weekend’s set against the Brewers will also be broadcast. Al will post the game thread at 2:30 CT, and the game will start at 3 p.m. CT. I’ll drop the link to the game into the thread. Kyle Hendricks (14-3) will face Brandon Woodruff (9-1). The Cubs dealt Woodruff his only loss of the season earlier this year. All game video and related material is available commercial-free, 24/7 at the BCB Media Center.

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.

“It sucks we’re dealing with this, but it’s the nature of the beast right now.” — Jon Lester.

• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Cubs’ three-game series against the Cardinals in St. Louis will be postponed after another positive COVID-19 test. “Friday would have been the first ever meeting without any fans inside the park ...” Russell Dorsey has more.
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Why Cubs-Cards COVID-19 postponement raises heat on MLB, ethics questions. “... the longer MLB pushes through outbreaks, and measures the season’s viability in counting cases instead of the risk of a catastrophic outcome for even one player, the deeper its ethical dilemma in this viral cesspool.”
• Marc Carig and Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Road trip: Teams like Yankees, Cubs search for this season’s competitive advantage. “... players and executives from around the league say the Yankees and Cubs have emerged as part of a group of teams that stand out for the way they’ve channeled resources toward the effort.”
• Brendan Miller (Cubs Insider*): Cubs stats to monitor: Willson Contreras displaying dramatically improved low-pitch framing. “... Contreras is now stealing pitches at the bottom of the strike zone at an eye-popping rate.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Cubs sign RHP Kelvin Herrera and LHP Matt Dermody, assign both to South Bend. “... this move adds depth to a bullpen that still hasn’t quite solidified.”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Why Cubs’ Alec Mills became first pitcher to hit since MLB added universal DH. “The Cubs forfeited the DH in their lineup in the seventh inning, when they moved Victor Caratini (Thursday’s starting DH) to first base and Ian Happ from first to right field.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Less is more for Cubs infielder David Bote, who credits his improved defense to knowing when to back off in practice. “Last year it probably was a case of overwork, taking too many ground balls at too many positions too often,” Bote said.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): “I have never seen power like this kid’s gonna have” – Yeah, that’s a quote about the Cubs’ top prospect. “Tommy Birch spoke with Iowa Cubs manager Marty Pevey.”

Cubs birthdays: Cupid Childs, Chick Keating, Tot Pressnell, Ken Raffensberger, Vern Morgan, Vicente Amor, Ray Fontenot, Chad Meyers, Anthony Rizzo.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.