Cub Tracks is a little off

Here at CUB TRACKS NEWS AND NOTES™, we like to keep things brief on the principle that it makes us appear wise. We don’t always, but we like to.

Narratives emerge over time. Today’s plot includes recent events concerning former Cubs Victor Caratini, who caught a Joe Musgrove no-hitter Friday, and Dexter Fowler, who emerged from a frightening situation involving a slide into second base with minimal injury. On the Cubs’ side, the pitching in general has been much better than expected, and the defense never rests, helping to keep the inoffensive Cubs afloat while they try to court the goddess of BABIP. Luck as a strategy didn’t work for Teela Brown** and probably won’t for the Cubs.

So much for Zach Davies’ three runs or fewer streak. Ouch.

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.)

• Mike Petriello (MLB.com*): 4 veteran relief aces showing off new tricks. “Kimbrel has, without, hyperbole, been the most dominant of all of them.”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Observations: Pirates clobber Davies in Cubs’ blowout loss. “The last time he allowed more than three in an outing was all the way back on Aug. 25, 2019, when he allowed four against the Diamondbacks as a member of the Brewers.” Jordan Bastian weighs in.
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs bullpen of castoffs impressing in early going. “Consider not only the bullpen’s start to the season, but those who have played key roles.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Andrew Chafin’s cult hero status growing by memes and bounds. “He’s been worth the money in Twitter memes alone already this season, but his pitching has also been outstanding.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): There are still a lot of “Names” in MLB Free Agency. “To be fair, a lot of these guys would not find themselves signed in normal times.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): How to measure El Mago: Assessing a potential long-term deal for Javier Báez, Cubs. “... the bulk of Báez’s career has been worth an estimated $114.8 million, according to the dollars metric on FanGraphs.”
• Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Sam Dykstra (MLB.com*): Each team’s potential impact callup. “The best pitching prospect the Cubs have signed since Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer took over baseball operations in October 2011...”
• Reel Chicago*: Cubs Marquee Sports Network says ‘We get all of it’. “We understand how important and personal the connection to watching games can be for fans — particularly for Cubs fans, who are some of the most passionate,” said Marquee SVP of Marketing and Digital, Amy McDevitt.
• Maddie Lee (NBC Sports Chicago*): Ross congratulates Caratini on making history. “Super happy for him,” Ross said Saturday, before managing a game against the Pirates. “I saw the emotion on his face jumping up and hugging Joe.”

Food for Thought:

**One of the main characters in Larry Niven’s Ringworld saga. Highly recommended series.

Thanks for reading!