Cub Tracks’ ‘stache bash

It’s Saturday as I write this, and the Cubs and new star Patrick Wisdom are throwing a bash. Party on, Garth! Duane’s World! Duane’s World. It’s my party and I’ll scry if I want to.

Here at CUB TRACKS NEWS AND NOTES™, we have news for you. Wisdom is the real thing, baby. Rafael Ortega is likely to be here next year, too. He and Michael Hermosillo can share a spot. I wouldn’t mind. They can man center until Brennen Davis is ready, or man right and Jason Heyward can start his transition to coach or manager, and Nico Hoerner can run around in the outfield some, when healthy. These guys are outgrowing the SSS and are at least in medium sample sizes now, if we’re forecasting baseball futures.

The NooCubs play with some flair. They just have pitching issues. I’m getting to enjoy watching them, even if the time is always bittersweet. The ChiSox are a legit playoff squad, and these guys are right there with them, this series. Today’s game promises to be fun, too. I hope to see Rivas/Effross.

Also, Alec Mills deserves some respect. And we fans deserve some meatloaf. Go Professor!

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 {$}): Cubs thoughts: What are they evaluating in the equivalent of NBA garbage time? “... the Cubs have avoided the top of the free-agent market for years.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Can disgruntled Cubs fans hop on the White Sox bandwagon? And if so, should Sox fans care? “Like putting ketchup on a hot dog, it’s not condoned in Chicago.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): In a lost season, Cubs can afford to be patient with struggling Keegan Thompson. “It’d be easy to dismiss Thompson as a potential starter, but the reality is he’s thrown 9 2/3 total innings in the role during his big-league career.” Meghan Montemurro has thoughts about this.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): RHP Scott Effross promoted, available Saturday night against Sox. “He won’t show up on any top prospect lists because his velocity isn’t very impressive and he was well under the radar before making a change to his delivery...”
• Russell Dorsey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Willson Contreras likely headed for rehab assignment. “Contreras has been sidelined with a sprained right knee since Aug. 14.”
• Steve Serby (NY Post*): Anthony Rizzo talks Cubs’ World Series, COVID-19 vaccination status. Rizzo ‘takes a swing at some Q&A’.
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Intriguing prospect Alfonso Rivas gets late-season chance with Cubs. “... manager Marty Pevey called him around 1 a.m. Saturday morning.”
• Marc Severson (Fansided*): 2 Chicago Cubs players who are trying to climb back to respectability. “Over the last few weeks these two Cubs have upped their hard-hit rates and decreased their propensity for hitting ground balls.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Quantifying Hope: Ian Happ’s recent stats should be reason for optimism. “... cheap and young enough to be a part of whatever Jed Hoyer has planned for the future.”

Food for Thought:

Thanks for reading!