Cub Tracks’ work in progress?

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.

We also try to be positive or at least even-keeled, but sometimes salt comes into the depot and we need to throw it over our left shoulder, as we still are and always will be ‘stitious. I dunno about Trevor Megill. I’d rather have seen Justin Steele. The bullpen could use another southpaw. But it is what it is.

Um, KBoom!

Davies promptly gave the lead up again. I am not so sure this is progress. He was trying for more until he was lifted for Dillon Maples, who got out of the jam. In the 4th.

456, as it turns out.

Opportunities were had. Almost. Almost.

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.)

• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Go back to Joe Maddon’s exit to put the Cubs’ lame-duck season in perspective. “This is going to be a long year,” Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Jake Arrieta’s strong start: a play in three acts. “That’s a game he deserves a win,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said of Arrieta. Jared Wyllys agrees. Maddie Lee has words too.
• Paul Siefert (Fansided*): Cubs: The long, slow death of the everyday big league hitter, “... hitting, the art of actually making contact with the ball, has been in decline for over two decades.”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Bryant offers Rizzo drill he will never forget. “He took it into the game, and — I forget which game — but he got two hits after that,” Bryant said.
• Maddie Lee (NBC Sports Chicago*): Ross ‘mixing up’ lineup, tries Hoerner at leadoff. “Nico’s swinging the hot bat,” Ross said.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Javy Báez dealing with some “minor hamstring tightness”. “I’d like to hope that, since Hoerner** is up right now and the Cubs want to get him starts anyway, that was something of a tiebreaker in terms of not pushing Báez.” **Taylor’s companion article about Hoerner with quotes from Sahadev Sharma’s examination {$}.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Hoerner shows savvy — and listening skills. “That was a total group effort,” Hoerner said.

• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Kris Bryant open to MLB rule changes, offers fun ideas. “I think they should move to the mound back to like 75 feet and they should throw underhand,” Bryant joked before Monday’s game in Atlanta. “That’d be fun.”
• Tommy Birch (Des Moines Register* {$}): Marquee Sports Network to broadcast 14 Iowa Cubs games. “The first broadcast is May 6 when Iowa hosts Indianapolis at Principal Park.”
• Max Thoma (MiLB.com*): Cubs win final alt-site game at Four Winds Field, 6-2 over Sox. “The Cubs Alternate Site team played for the final time in South Bend on Monday afternoon, beating the White Sox by a final score of 6-2.”
• Steve Zalusky (Daily Herald* {$}): A daughter’s memories of a legendary Cubs broadcaster. Jack Quinlan was born to broadcast the Chicago Cubs....

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading!