Cub Tracks pines for Pepi

Welcome to today’s edition of Cub Tracks news and notes™, a greatest-hits collection of Chicago-style beat writers and bloggers, ground from #Cubs, #MiLB, and #MLB baseball, overheated, steeped in writers’ tears, and then cold-brewed overnight for maximum flavor.

Cub Tracks is sad to report the passing of one Joe Pep, aka Joe Pepitone, once a Yankee, but forever a Cub. I met Joe a few times and was always impressed by his ability to communicate. Joe had a good head of hair on his shoulders, and he had used it to graduate from journalism school, is the answer I didn’t have yet.

In the more mundane world, the Cubs have a new pitcher, Christian Winston, a young southpaw with a low-to mid-90s four-seam and two nice offspeed pitches. Trevor Bauer is shipping out to Japan. Monday was a Cubs off-day. I watched some WBC though. Good brand of ball.

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• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times*): Cubs in the WBC: Marcus Stroman, Roenis Elías, Owen Caissie turning heads. “World Baseball Classic quarterfinals begin this week in Miami and Tokyo.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Hayden Wesneski making strong case for rotation: ‘He knows that he belongs’. “But, he also has a way about him that he’s not, ‘I’m the fifth starter. I’m this or that.’ He knows that this is a process,” said Cubs manager David Ross. More Wesneski and some Cam Sanders from Evan Altman.
• James Neveau (NBC Sports Chicago*): Assad, Wesneski turning heads in Cubs’ rotation battle. “Either pitcher could potentially join a group that already includes Justin Steele, Marcus Stroman, Drew Smyly and Jameson Taillon, with Kyle Hendricks still an option down the road...”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Brandon Hughes ready to be bullpen’s southpaw standout. “... Hughes is the main lefty reliever on the 40-man. There is a chance he is the only southpaw in the Opening Day relief corps.”
• Tony Andracki and Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): 23 for ’23: Which young Cubs pitcher will take the next step this season? “There are a number of young arms in the bullpen that could break through in 2023...”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Exactly what you want to hear from a young pitcher talking about his catcher. “... I see why he’s been around for so long. He’s really good at his job.”
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times*): How catcher Tucker Barnhart is earning Cubs pitchers’ trust. “The veteran is learning his new pitching staff while dealing with the extra pressure of the new pitch clock.”
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation*): Chicago Cubs mid-Spring Training check-in: The Hitters. “Zero walks and zero strikeouts is such a Hoerner stat.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Cubs see World Baseball Classic as springboard for prospects Matt Mervis and Owen Caissie. “I’m excited they get to be in that environment and play against some of the best in the world,” David Ross said. “There’s no real substitute for that until you get to playoff-type baseball.”
• Aldo Soto (Sports Mockery*): Seiya Suzuki’s Opening Day status becomes clear. “...the Japanese star will have his season delayed because of a left oblique strain.”

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