Cub Tracks’ blackout blues

Welcome to your Sunday, 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.

“...down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. He is the hero; he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor—by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.” —- Raymond Chandler.

Thanks to the powers that be in Major League Baseball, I cannot watch this series on TV, despite my having absolutely no interest in a team that plays 400 miles away and hasn’t had a farm club here since the early oughts.

Therefore I am watching via pirate signal because gamethread word the powers-that-be and their mendacious ways and Cretaceous mentality. They even block my VPN, the bastiges. My mom blocked my VPN once. Once!

I see the new Iowa Shuttle is in overdrive. That had to be uncomfortable, Frank, but the middle seat to San Diego beats the window seat to Des Moines, yes?

Not to beat a broken record, but the Cubs are bad right now. I continue to hold out hope for a 75-80 win season. I think 85 is out of sight. And of course that depends on the better players staying on the roster and on the field, which is by no means a given.

Sad times. Tow them away, by all means. And step on it.

* 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. The powers that be have provided sarcasm font in the comments section.

• John Grochowski (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Where have all the runs gone in MLB? “Scoring is down this season, and a drop in home runs is the primary reason.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Dodgers show how far away ‘next great Cubs team’ is. “... it’s even worse than many of us thought — in both upper management optics and on-field performance.” And he has more. Sahadev Sharma had similar thoughts {$}.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): It’s still early, but not too soon to begin the Cubs’ countdown to the trade deadline. “... the usual baseball platitudes ring hollow when the Cubs are so obviously positioned to become sellers at the trade deadline, given ownership’s scaled-down budget for baseball operations this season, a front office focused on the future and a roster structured with so many one-year contracts.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): David Ross focusing on the positives instantly made me think about a decade ago. “... this season could not be going much worse.”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs’ Wade Miley set to debut Tuesday in boost for rotation. “Miley’s return is a welcomed one for the Cubs.” Brett Taylor has words.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Willson Contreras, Nico Hoerner keeping Cubs focused amid struggles. “I’m trying to do my best to pass my energy to everybody,” Contreras said on Saturday night.
• Tony Andracki (Marquee Sports Network*): After strange turn of events, Frank Schwindel is back with the Cubs. “The last 24 hours have certainly been strange...”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): After a quick recall by the Chicago Cubs, can Schwindel get on track to avoid a trip to the minors? “A nail in his car tire saved Frank Schwindel from making an unnecessary trip to Iowa.”
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation*): Pitchers are not attacking Nick Madrigal any differently – so what’s up? “... this boils down to Madrigal’s own timing. He’s off.”
• Alexander Patt (Cubbies Crib*): Andrelton Simmons started his rehab assignment this weekend. “No disrespect to Simmons here, it just seems like an odd fit on this team in their current situation.”
• Michael Brakebill (Cubbies Crib*): Brennen Davis’ struggles throw wrench into big league plans. “This team is just simply not in contention.”
• The Chicago Crusader*: Cubs Charities’ Diamond Project grant celebrates power of sport for inner city communities. “Cubs Charities is also celebrating investments in Canaryville Little League field and Dunham Park, home field for Dunham Baseball Organization.”

Food for Thought:

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