Cub Tracks secures the meatloaf

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. We try to distill the zeitgeist into a fine piquancy, for your consumption.

These are the fun Cubs, when they’re winning and looking decent. The team has done a good job identifying players who might be major-league ballplayers and giving the the tools and opportunity to give it the ‘old college try’ — but you don’t want them to be too successful in that because it means they get away with ‘cheaping out’, i.e., maximizing the profit margin at the expense of competitiveness. Kind of a double-edged sword. I mean, you want to have some skill identifying players who might help your squad, but counting on those people as starters is chancy at best, as we’re seeing... but... I don’t want to say that the current squad is an exercise in cynically capitalizing on the tendency of Cubs fans to root for the underdog, but I wouldn’t put it past them.

On the plus side, Jonathan Villar is now an Angel. So that worked out. I wonder if he took any messages from Seiya Suzuki to Mike Trout.

Alec Mills has an issue (several sources say ‘lower back pain’ which he has been dealing for for quite awhile. He might be headed back to the IL). Mark Leiter, Jr., came in to succeed him on the mound in the top of the first, after seven pitches, and did very well, stymying the BoSox early while the Cubs rode a couple of gift runs, and in the end, only allowing one run in four-plus innings. And that was the only run the Cubs allowed on this fine Saturday in the park, two days before the fourth of July. Mychal Givens and David Robertson were just fine, thank you, and the Cubs have secured the meatloaf.

Really can’t say enough about the job Leiter did on short notice. That was clutch. Also clutch: pearls:

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• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs players, manager react to Rob Manfred’s MLB robo-ump plans. Cubs catcher Yan Gomes, who is opposed to an automated strike zone, says the “best thing in baseball” is the human element.
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Which Chicago Cubs players are likely to get traded? Here’s where things stand with the deadline 1 month away. “That’s the way it goes,” David Robertson told the Tribune this week.
• Jake Misener (Cubbies Crib*): Kyle Hendricks helped his trade value immensely with a strong June. “He pitched five innings and allowed three or fewer earned runs in all but one of his June appearances.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs’ Marcus Stroman offers holiday weekend cheer for chapped fans.
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Stroman, Smyly to start rehab assignments, near returns. “Stroman will pitch for Triple-A Iowa on Sunday, and Smyly said he’ll pitch Monday for either Single-A South Bend or the I-Cubs — who are on the road in Indianapolis.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Willson Contreras eyeing All-Star Game nod with brother William. “Man, it makes me proud to see my brother playing well in the big leagues.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Ian Happ’s goal? Lead young Cubs to promised land. “It’s such an exciting opportunity to be a part of building something special here,” Happ said.
• Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): How Rafael Ortega’s steady mindset has helped him become the player he is today. “I’ve had to go through many down moments to know the satisfaction of the good moments,” Ortega said.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): First, Cubs had Zo; now, they have Mo. “Christopher Morel’s versatility is conjuring memories of Ben Zobrist, and the Cubs are putting him to good use.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): How the Cubs identified Narciso Crook as a breakout candidate, helped unlock his potential. “They’re really great at what they do,” Crook said.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): It’s *possible* we will see Seiya Suzuki back very soon. “The Cubs play in Milwaukee on Monday the 4th, so that is when we could finally see Seiya Suzuki back with the big league team.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Trio of unheralded hitters making noise in Tennessee. “... that they’re all coming from beyond the top 30 of pretty much every prospect ranking you can find.”
• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Ron Coomer’s sentimental journey. “... 63rd Street and Melvina on the Southwest Side might as well be known as Coom’s Corner.”

Haha, we all expected this:

Food for Thought:

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