Cub Tracks secures the meatloaf

Welcome to today’s edition of Cub Tracks news and notes™, a greatest-hits from Chicago-style beat writers and bloggers, ground around #Cubs, #MiLB, and #MLB baseball, and cold-brewed overnight for maximum flavor. We read all of the articles, so you don’t have to.

Game notes: Rick Sutcliffe and Pat Hughes make a good combo, imo. I enjoy listening to them, and Sutcliffe has lots of short interesting stories.

It’s beyond me how Graham Ashcraft doesn’t strike out a hitter an inning. Nasty stuff and a pretty wide differential in his pitch speeds.

Cubs starter Adrian Sampson had a rough start but hung in there and was rewarded with runs scored, though he didn’t stick around long enough to get the W. Pittsburgh-area resident and former Cincinnati Bearcat Ian Happ apparently woke up and chose violence.

The bullpen did good. Tune in to Al’s recap for details. #ExtendWilly

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“Being an African American in the big leagues, it’s becoming less and less population of us in the big leagues, so I think it’s important to share light and show the inner-city youth [and] gain some excitement for them and give them role models to look up to where they may not normally have that in a day to day. I’m a big fan of that. Like I said, that’s something that my foundation and everything I do in the future will be geared to myself, but if the MLB tapped in there, I think that could be huge.” — Marcus Stroman

• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Reliving a Field of Dreams and memories. “So, I packed my glove.”
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs’ Jed Hoyer: ‘I expect to be aggressive this winter’. “This year’s ‘‘Field of Dreams’’ game serves as a reminder that the large-market Cubs, with an international following, have every advantage in courting top free agents.”
• Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): With Field of Dreams in rearview mirror and London ahead, where else should Cubs travel to? “I think we should do something based around the Negro League culture,” Marcus Stroman said. Tim Stebbins has more of this.
• Eric Rubin (Cubbies Crib*): Homegrown arms are finally rounding into form. “Without strong pitching, teams will struggle to win.”
• Eno Sarris (The Athletic {$}): Caught Looking: Alex Bregman’s promise, Alex Wood’s breath, and why 80 is a magic number. “There’s a lot of different ways to have success,” said Hoerner.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Nick Madrigal being blessed by BABIP Gods since returning from IL. “At the very least, a nice run over the next several weeks would also increase Madrigal’s value on the trade market if the Cubs indeed want to be active.”
• Kevin Acee (San Diego Union-Tribune*): Fernando Tatis Jr. suspended 80 games for drug violation; Preller cites ‘trust’ issues. With regard to a thread in the comments yesterday. “It’s very disappointing,” AJ Preller said.

Food for Thought:

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