Cub Tracks gets some sun

Well, Phil Ervin and Jeremy Jeffress have escaped, to the Braves and Nationals respectively. But the Cubs players on hand went through full-squad workouts and there will be actual games soon.

That’s pretty much all I need to know right now. I’m sorta warming to the idea of Jake between Kyle and Zack, where his relative velocity, whether laden or unladen, would enable all three to showcase their abilities.

Got to split up the soft-tossers.

Not a ton of stuff on the news front yet, but that’s coming. Hang in there.

Here’s Cub Tracks News and Notes, your every-other-day-except-on-weekends escape from the humdrum, 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 on this page as sarcasm font. (In the comments section, use @ before and after your remarks @ to produce sarcasm font. In the text body. It doesn’t work in the headlines.)

• Armando Sanchez (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Inside the Chicago Cubs’ first full-squad workouts at spring training. Photogallery.
• ‘Kyle Light’? How new Chicago Cubs starter Zach Davies is similar to — and different from — ace Kyle Hendricks. “It’s funny because they put our lockers next to each other, so I think they know the comparisons too,” Davies said Sunday morning.
• Matt Kelly (MLB.com*): Change of scenery for changeup master. “Coming to a team like the Cubs, it’s going to be a fun year for me,” Davies said via Zoom on Sunday. Patrick Mooney elaborates {$}. Maddie Lee adds on.
• Russell Dorsey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Jake Arrieta’s excited to see how Cubs’ pitching lab can help him. ‘‘Yeah, it interests me a lot, and there are a lot of changes for the good,’’ Arrieta said. Tony Andracki has thoughts about this.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Arrieta has advice for the Cubs stars about to become free agents. “It’s tough to take the Cubs uniform off.”
• Russell Dorsey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel hopes to build off strong end to 2020 as spring begins. “Kimbrel had a 0.00 ERA with 13 strikeouts and no walks in September last season.” Andy Martinez chimes in.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Slightly heavier Anthony Rizzo says Cubs need to earn fans’ faith after disappointing years. “I’ll never stop eating pizza,” he told reporters Monday...
• Bryan Smith (Bleacher Nation*): An encyclopedic 60-man honorable mention to complete our 2021 BN Top Cubs prospect list. “They’re listed alphabetically, and the age listed is their 2021 baseball age.”
• Marquee Sports Network*: Off the Mound with Ryan Dempster Podcast: Andre Dawson.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.