Cub Tracks correlates the contents

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.

Not so many people are talking about the Cubs right now. They’re on a low, despite Seiya Suzuki’s NL Rookie of the Month status and the amazing feats of Myrtle Beach. Understatement might be the order of the day if over-reaction wasn’t such a consistent bug in the juice.

But low-key doesn’t move the needle. Things need BIGNESS.

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of the infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.” — HP Lovecraft.

* 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.

• MLB.com*: One month in, one overreaction for each team. “The rotation might actually be worse than last season.”
• Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): What we learned about the Cubs in April: Being scrappy isn’t enough for a rebuilding team. “This offense is very different from the one Cubs fans have grown accustomed to in recent years.” Tony Andracki also learned things. Steve Greenberg offers his views.
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs’ April slide exposes inconvenient truth of rebuild. “... we can quit trying to pretend this season isn’t part of a second rebuild in less than 10 years.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Dylan Cease is Cubs’ version of Sammy Sosa: The one that got away. “I don’t think about it that much,” Cease said.
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): David Robertson has been lights out for the Chicago Cubs after coming back from a potentially career-ending injury. The formula for his success: “Having a new elbow — honestly, that’s the biggest thing,” Robertson said.
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): ‘What to say when’: Willson Contreras’ words carry weight for young Cubs pitchers. “He just really knows what to say when, when to push a guy, when to take him to the side,” said veteran Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks.
• Aldo Soto (Sports Mockery*): Should the Cubs send Nick Madrigal to Triple-A? “... the Cubs might consider it if the second baseman continues to struggle...”
• Richard Johnson (Cubbies Crib*): What do the numbers tell us about Nico Hoerner this season? “If he can continue his development at the plate, he’ll be well on his way to cementing his role as a key cog in the next Cubs playoff machine.”
• Alexander Patt (Cubbies Crib*): Ian Happ has been a different player since last August. “His key will be continued patience and making the most of the pitches he can handle in the zone.” He’s also getting engaged.
• Greg Huss (Cubs Insider*): Growing Cubs Podcast: MLB Draft, Best pitching performers, Luke Little, Alexander Canario, PCA, and James Triantos. [AUDIO].
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Cubs and Marquee Sports Network announce a multiyear TV partnership with the Sky. “Marquee Sports Network is expanding the scope of its coverage beyond the Chicago Cubs.”
• AP via Chicago Tribune* {$}: Kelsie Whitmore becomes the 1st woman to start an Atlantic League baseball game. “... Whitmore played left field and batted ninth for the Staten Island FerryHawks on Sunday.”

Food for Thought:

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the opinions of writers whose work is linked to in this series of articles. Feel free to discuss in a civil fashion. If you have any question as to what kind of discourse is allowed, here are the site guidelines. Thanks for reading!