Cub Tracks may never get over Yu

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.

Cub Tracks can’t help but notice that we are only about a third of the way through the season. This lackluster franchise still has time to be truly, monumentally bad.

I had originally projected this group to end up somewhere between 75-85 wins, assuming little or no attrition. Instead we are privileged to witness a test to destruction that might result in 100+ (but will likely be more like 85-90) losses and a total teardown of the rest of the roster.

Sad times.

Anyway, the threatened tornado didn’t happen, and the skies cleared up some, and the Cubs and the Padres eventually got to playing. Justin Steele (1-5, 4.59) opposed former Cub Yu Darvish (5-3, 3.53). Both pitchers hurled the rock accurately enough, and the teams were tied at one through seven innings. The Cubs scored on Yan Gomes’ 3rd homer.

Steele was relieved by Rowan Wick, and shortly thereafter, the game was no longer tied. The Padres went crooked and Yu was still dealing — the Cubs had three hits through eight until Christopher Morel broke the spell. The Wrigleyites nearly doubled their pleasure when Willson Contreras singled up the middle and suddenly the RISP record looked at-risk.

But no. Ian Happ struck out, and there was little drama in the ninth.

* 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 enabled sarcasm font in the comments.

Some birthday present.

• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): How long before the Cubs go from sellers to contenders? ‘It felt far away until it didn’t’. “It’s one thing for the Cubs to not spend like these teams — though fans have every right to demand that they do since they’re wholly capable — but to see such a large talent gap on paper that proves to be accurate on the field has to be disheartening.”
• Jake Misener (Cubbies Crib*): Cubs weren’t supposed to be good; so why are fans so irritated? “There’s not one singular answer here.”
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation*): Willson Contreras trade rumors: Mets and Giants more likely? Astros and Yankees less? Padres? Rays? More. Based on Ken Rosenthal article {$}.
• Phil Rogers (Forbes* {$}): It’s not too late for the Chicago Cubs to make Willson Contreras their Yadier Molina. “They are in a strong financial position to sign him, as the Cubs have only Seiya Suzuki, Marcus Stroman and David Bote signed beyond next season.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Replace the Face? ‘No pressure,’ Schwindel says of Rizzo.
• Marquee Sports Network*: Cubs nation is all in on Christopher Morel: ‘He brings a lot to the fans’. “There’s nothing that Chicago loves more than a guy who comes out of nowhere and just blows the doors off the place as Morel has.” Sahadev Sharma {$} has more.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Updating Seiya Suzuki’s status for this week. “no real timetable” Bill Ladson has more. Tony Andracki has the smart approach. Gordon Wittenmyer opines.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Clint Frazier decision just latest leaving me wondering whether Cubs know what in hell they’re doing. “... even if we allow the organization a little dishonesty as a natural part of the business, it’s become increasingly difficult and perhaps even impossible to discern their motivations for various personnel decisions.”

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!