Cub Tracks’ Happness despite the tears

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.

Pittsburgh-area native Ian Happ flat-out destroyed a leadoff homer.

Franmil Reyes showed off the wheels.

Happ, not to be outdone by himself, homered again, an upper-deck BLAST.

All this while Marcus Stroman was dealing. He was rarely threatened. He barely had to work up a sweat. And then the fifth inning happened. You couldn’t find more of a jam at a Phish concert — before anyone could blink the bases were full of Nationals with nobody out.

We went from 0 to 62 in seconds, and the Nationals emptied the bags. But that wasn’t all... there was this:

But, sadly, it wasn’t to be, this night.

#extendwilly #extendianhapp

* 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.

• Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Why the Cubs believe Justin Steele, Keegan Thompson are rotation building blocks. “... their growth as starting pitchers is a real, significant development.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Kyle Hendricks has been cleared to start rehabbing in Arizona. “... this doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing him back this year.” As reported on in the top of the telecast last night. Brennen Davis too. MLB.com says that Steven Brault is near, too.
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs notes: Kyle Hendricks begins his rehab in Arizona, while Nick Madrigal settles into the leadoff spot. “He and the Cubs want to avoid an offseason scenario that would require him to continue rehabbing his shoulder.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): With most of next year’s rotation set, Cubs could target true ace in free agency. “... it’s not unthinkable to project a baseball budget that affords Jed Hoyer $75-100 million to play with.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): 5 reasons to pay attention (maybe not admission) to Cubs. “... what’s left for these Cubs to look forward to this year but a crossroads offseason with promises from ownership and the front office to spend?”
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Take it from Patrick Wisdom, Mike Napoli: There’s more to playing first base than you might think. “Wisdom has been playing first base more regularly as the Cubs’ infield undergoes a late-season shuffle.”
• Michael Consolo (Cubbies Crib*): Nelson Velazquez has a long-term role to play for the Cubs. “The outfielder has shown glimpses of his potential so far.”
• Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): What we’re hearing about Cubs prospects: Matt Mervis’ breakout year and more. “It’s hard to find everyday players, and it’s expensive to retain them.”

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. Thanks for reading!