Cub Tracks’ curtains for certain

Welcome to today’s edition of Cub Tracks news and notes™, a greatest-hits collection of Chicago-style beat writers and bloggers, ground from #Cubs, #MiLB, and #MLB baseball, overheated, and then cold-brewed overnight for maximum flavor.

Well, the Cubs ran away with that game, and that’s a positive to take into next year. Good stuff! Adrian Sampson is nails. I like him for whatever role he plays next year, but I like him on the roster somewhere. And, all things considered, I like Zach McKinstry for a spot, too. David Bote probably doesn’t have one and might be best deployed elsewhere.

There’s other stuff to talk about, but now we have all of the fall and winter to do so. A lot of those players won’t be wearing Cubbie blue next year, and we wish them all of the luck. 39-31 after the ASB looks pretty good, now the Cubs need to build on that.

Anyway, there were plenty of highlights. Here are some of them:

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• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): How Cubs’ David Ross plans to keep managing in October. “The Cubs manager plans to watch a lot of playoff games this month...”
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): How to evaluate the Cubs’ season as it comes to a close in Cincinnati. David Ross: “The thing I’ll look back on is, how far away are we from championship-caliber baseball, and wrap my brain around. And what’s the next step?”
• Richard Johnson (Cubbies Crib*): Can the Chicago Cubs really make the postseason in 2023? “... it’s worth evaluating the depth of the hole in which the Cubs currently find themselves...”
• Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): Javier Assad has proved he can be part of the Cubs’ long-term pitching equation. “Wasn’t on the radar very much to start the season,” manager David Ross said. Maddie Lee has more of this.
• Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): Michael Rucker had a heartwarming gesture for his teammates, Cubs staffers. “Rucker has left messages with clubhouse attendants and coaches in the past, but this year wanted to share those with his bullpen teammates, to acknowledge “the hard work we put in.””
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): How Chicago Cubs prospect Jordan Wicks — armed with a new pitch — is setting himself up for a big 2023 season. “His main goal coming into the year was to improve his breaking balls. Wicks believes he succeeded in that quest.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): These prospects could break into the ‘23 rotation. “... six pitchers from MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Cubs prospects.” Sahadev Sharma has more prospect talk {$}.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Offseason work is about to begin, and it starts with very specific focuses for each player. “... the Cubs are focused on getting those needs down to the granular...”
• Rick Morrissey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): No hint that Aaron Judge is dirty, but shouldn’t the steroid era have made us more skeptical? “Humans have a long history of being bad people.”
• Shakeia Taylor (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Barry Bonds is the real home run record holder — and nothing can change that until someone breaks it. “... you can’t erase it or ignore it.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*); Why Cubs’ Contreras ready to answer if Cardinals call. “If they want me there, I’ll be there,” Contreras said. “If they want me here, I’ll be here. I don’t know what’s going to happen.” Michael Brakebill has more Contreras.
• Greg Huss (North Side Bound*): A peek under the hood of the Cubs’ hitting development process. “I hope Chicago is ready because the kids are coming.”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Who will play center field for the Chicago Cubs in 2023? An internal option such as Christopher Morel could be the path they take. “Of all the possible routes the Chicago Cubs could take in the offseason to upgrade the roster, the outfield features some of the least positional flexibility.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Is Seiya Suzuki’s adjustment period with the Cubs complete? “What you’ve seen from him this year is just scratching the surface,” Nico Hoerner said.
• Mack Liederman (Block Club Chicago*): New ‘Book Of Joe’ memoir will give manager Joe Maddon’s take on Cubs that broke the curse. “Maddon led the Cubs to their first championship in 108 years. He explains “why the honeymoon with the Cubs did not last” in a new book.”

Food for Thought:

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