Cub Tracks’ loud tools

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.

Wouldn’t it make more sense if the neighborhood names were added later, to add marketing opportunities for the City Connect gimmick? Wouldn’t that rep the various communities more effectively? Instead of on the jacket sleeves? I don’t think they thought that through. I have more ideas — their people should talk to my people. In the meantime, they’re there if you’re in their target demo.

I approve of Ian Happ at second, hitting second. Maybe that puts some contact in his bat. He was an infielder for a long time. He looks like an infielder. He sure looked good today.

I most heartily disapprove of MLB’s regional viewing zones and wrote them again to express my feelings. They assigned me a case number. I did ask for money back for every day I cannot watch because they are idiots.

In short, the game: The Cubs played the Padres. Jake Arrieta trying to sort himself out vs. Yu Darvish, late of the Chicago Cubs. The narrative is inescapable. Both pitchers performed well. Runs were at a premium.

The Cubs prevailed on late runs. A double-play provided the lead and Sergio Alcantara, the insurance. The bullpen held.

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• Dayn Perry (CBS Sports*): Cubs provide latest example of why fans shouldn’t believe what teams say about their finances. “Once again, a highly profitable MLB franchise is claiming to lose money.”
• Jon Greenberg (The Athletic {$}): Cubs try to infuse ‘City Connect’ uniforms with a deeper meaning: Dollars and sense. Sam Fels has things to say.
• (NBC 5 Chicago*): Girl injured in Gardner Bullying Incident gets surprise gifts from Cubs, local group. “My heart is filled with joy that there’s been so much support,” Kimberly Funes said.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs will have to live with COVID-19 protocols — but David Ross says not to judge his players who haven’t received the vaccine. “These are the choices these guys made, and I’m here to win baseball games with these guys. That’s all I have control over.”
• Lindsay Adler (The Athletic {$}): All your questions about MLB pitchers, Spider Tack and other foreign substances, answered. “The use of foreign substances by pitchers has a long history in the game...”
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation*): That was Zach Davies’ second best start since 2018. “Hitting his spots on the edge of the zone...”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Craig Kimbrel’s confidence has returned, and the Chicago Cubs closer isn’t concerning himself with trade talk — or doctored baseballs. “... former Mets manager Terry Collins said: “He’s had the same hat for four years. It’s not pine tar. It’s rosin.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): How 60-game sprint in 2020 helped create urgency in 2021. “We kind of just started and then we were done,” Cubs outfielder Kris Bryant said.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs still dangerous well below full strength. “The homers have obviously been the game-changer for us,” Ross said.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Contreras brothers go yard on ‘special’ day. “It’s something special. Being young, growing up together, getting to the big leagues, it’s something really good for us,” Willson Contreras said.
• Matt Snyder (CBS Sports*): How Cubs star Javier Báez is producing one of the most absurd statistical seasons in MLB history. “Báez — with production despite tons of strikeouts and few walks — is on pace to do things we’ve never seen.”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Happ offers ailing Cubs another level of versatility. “‘Hey, if you need me, I can get back to the infield,’” Ross recalled Happ saying. “‘I’m willing to do whatever.’
• Jim Dallke (Chicago Inno*): Cubs star Kris Bryant invests in sleep startup. “Eight Sleep makes a mattress that can regulate your temperature and analyze your heart respiratory rates, movement and sleep patterns.”
• Todd Johnson (Cubs Insider*): Prospect Profile: How did Ben Leeper go from undrafted FA to Triple-A already? “... his signing as an undrafted free agent continued a trend of the Cubs finding guys with loud tools that need refining.”

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.