Cub Tracks works a double

Welcome to today’s edition 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.

On what I would call a ‘properly managed club’ we wouldn’t be seeing most of these kids. They’d be in Triple-A or even Double-A. But right now they’re the most fun we are allowed to have. They played quite a bit Monday, and all of them looked decent. A couple look better than that. At least they don’t bring pool noodles to the plate like Andrelton Simmons does.

Game 1, in pictures.

Game two:

However fun, this is not a truly competitive team, if you base your logic on their abysmal won/loss record and tendency to lose by one run. It’s sad that we’ve come to this.

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• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Jed Hoyer, David Ross: Baseball can play role in real-world change. “I do think that sports in general have a large audience and therefore I think they can make a difference,” Hoyer said. More in this vein.
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Hoyer doesn’t need to say the Cubs are rebuilding. But when will it end? “... for the most part, it seems as if people just don’t like what he’s saying.”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Hoyer and the Chicago Cubs must learn from mistakes to build the franchise’s next title contender. “Taking a long view while trying to compete in the short term requires balance, and sometimes that means sacrificing one for the other.”
• MLB.com*: Injuries & Moves: Suzuki placed on IL.
• Tony Andracki (Marquee Sports Network*): Caleb Kilian, Matt Swarmer and where the Cubs roster stands entering grueling week. “We’ve got a lot of innings to cover. We’ve got some guys banged up,” David Ross said.
• Joey Polizze (MLB.com*): Marcus Stroman looking like an ace up Cubs’ sleeve. “It’s a tough one to swallow because Stroman threw a hell of a game,” David Robertson said after his blown save opportunity in the ninth. Gordon Wittenmyer holds the cards.
• Alexander Patt (Cubbies Crib*): Looking to hit the reset button on Nick Madrigal. “This rehab stint is more than just a chance to get healthy again, but a chance to hit the reset button on the 2022 season.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Ian Happ trade-deadline speculation is part of the Cubs’ credibility issue right now. “Their job is to write those stories,” Happ said.
• Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): Wake up call: Nelson Velázquez’s journey takes him to Wrigley Field. “For me, it means everything,” he said prior to Game 1 of the Cubs doubleheader against the Brewers Monday. “It’s a dream come true. It’s everything I wished [for] in my life.”

Food for Thought:

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