Cub Tracks’ there’s no need to fear

Welcome to your thirsty Thursday, 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.

Well, these Cubs are a competitive club, but as we know, they may not be competitive enough. Certainly their timing isn’t good. They wasted all those runs on one game, and coulda used a few here, there, and everywhere else. But that’s a minor quibble.

The Cubs are who they are. And wherever you go, there you are.

I opined in some articles toward the end of last year that Patrick Wisdom, Frank Schwindel, Rafael Ortega, and Alfonso Rivas were ‘building blocks’ for the future. And they are, despite the semantic argument... the question is whether they be straw, wood, or brick. And that question yet remains. There’s still a lot of season to play.

But if I didn’t like things humble and lovable, I wouldn’t be a Cubs fan. So that train’s still going ‘round and ‘round, and here we are, with a two-game series loss to the Pale Hose. Seiya Suzuki seized up in a key moment, and Ian Happ struck out shortly thereafter.

I could easily go all Simon Bar Sinister about it. But I’ll be patient. Next year will be great.

* 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.

• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): The ‘Sodfather’ confirms the obvious: This Chicago spring — with its ‘brutal’ weather pattern— has been the worst. “Roger Bossard, the head groundskeeper of the White Sox, didn’t need numbers to back up his claim. He has millions of eyewitnesses.”
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Drew Smyly could return from Bereavement List vs. Dodgers. “Smyly must remain on the list for at least three days, and a maximum of seven is allowed.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Wade Miley is headed out on a rehab start with the Iowa Cubs. Actually, today, as was reported on Wednesday night’s broadcast. MLB.com also has word of this.
• Richard Johnson (Cubbies Crib*): Cubs bullpen has impressed – but there’s a long ways to go. “Even compared to other bullpens, the Cubs relievers stand out.”
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): How Cubs reliever Scott Effross claimed off-the-field leadership role. “... he offered his help to team rep Ian Happ during collective-bargaining negotiations.”
• Bryan Smith (Bleacher Nation*): It’s time you know Porter Hodge, the Cubs pitching prospect who is breaking out. “... a guy that used the winter to take his game to another level.”
• Ryan O’Rourke (Cubbies Crib*): Schwindel’s performance has matched our worst fears. “... the numbers are simply unacceptable right now for a starter on a team that’s trying to be at least somewhat competitive.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): ‘Not hitting the panic button:’ Nick Madrigal confident hits are coming. “Madrigal believes timing is at the heart of the issues.”
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): David Ross: Ian Happ is the ‘MVP of our group’ to start the season. “Happ entered play Wednesday leading qualified Cubs hitters in batting average and on-base percentage.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Suzuki is playing the long game while the Cubs rebuild, following his routine and making new adjustments. “Obviously, there are good things and bad things every day,” Suzuki said through his interpreter, Toy Matsushita. Meghan Montemurro has thoughts as well.
• Jon Ferlise (Cubs Insider*): Pete Crow-Armstrong added to Baseball America’s latest Top 100 prospect rankings. “Crow-Armstrong has been tearing it up for the Chicago Cubs’ Low-A affiliate Myrtle Beach to start the season.” Andy Martinez has more about Crow-Armstrong and Hodge.

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!