Cub Tracks’ works it out

Welcome to your Tuesday, and today’s episode of Cub Tracks news and notes™, featuring material from current beat writers, bloggers, and the occasional in-house habitué, moonlighting. These pieces center around #Cubs, #MiLB, and #MLB baseball.

No game Monday. Pirates this afternoon in Pittsburgh. Small-sample evaluations are in. Returns are positive. Hopefully Drew Smyly can continue the string of impressive starts and the offense can stay on course. I thought these guys were bad?

Meatloaf was served in the dining car yesterday, helping me to round into form. For added exercise, I jumped to conclusions, raised my eyebrows, and constructed run-on sentences.

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• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): 3 takeaways from the Chicago Cubs’ opening series, including David Ross being in no hurry to name a closer. “... it was an interesting start...” Tim Stebbins does impressions.
• Tony Andracki (Marquee Sports Network*): ‘What is normal anymore?’: Cubs are counting on Ross to lead organization into new era. “It’s about communicating to those guys and making sure I’m getting ahead of that,” Ross said.
• Jake Misener (Cubbies Crib*): Cubs starting pitching was outstanding this weekend. “... seeing this group come out this weekend and step up in a big way was very promising.”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): What makes new Chicago Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman tick? Mindfulness, mental well-being and an endless amount of outside interests. “Stroman’s demeanor and attitude has resonated in the Cubs clubhouse despite having just four weeks to get to know his new teammates.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Cubs’ well-rounded offensive approach has them off to a hot start early this season. “Knowing the wind at Wrigley, I think the team approach was sharp line drives and go from there,” Frank Schwindel said. Braxton Piatt has thoughts.
• Mark Powell (Fansided*): Willson Contreras’ warning to Brewers should be taken seriously. “I can’t say it’s over,” Contreras said. Paul Sullivan spots a trend.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Yeah, so, Jonathan Villar was pretty clearly safe. “... Villar’s hand is impacting first base and the ball is not yet in Rowdy Tellez’s glove.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Sox All-Star on Ed Howard: ‘He’s going to put on a show’. “He’s definitely one of those guys that’s going to impact the league,” Anderson said.
• Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): How the Cubs are planning to keep Ian Happ fresh amid torrid start to season. “... the goal for Happ this season — to find more consistency at the plate.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Seiya Suzuki displaying otherworldly plate discipline in early going. “To the surprise of no one at all, he has shown a better understanding of the zone than the men employed to adjudicate it.” Jake Misener has thoughts.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Take a bow! Suzuki blasts off for 1st MLB homer. “That was nice, wasn’t it? That was loud,” Cubs manager David Ross said.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Jostens files a lawsuit against an auction house over a ‘stolen’ duplicate of Ben Zobrist’s 2016 World Series ring. “The auction house appears to be caught in the middle while the consigner and Jostens both claim ownership...”
• Bill Francis (National Baseball Hall of Fame*): Paprocki makes history in Chicago, Cooperstown. “Jeremiah Paprocki’s young life has already brought him to Cooperstown – both figuratively and literally.”

Food for Thought:

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