Cub Tracks on the bubble

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.

With Spring Training in full swing and the Regular Season beckoning, Cub Tracks acknowledges that there’s somewhat of an embarrassment of riches as far as material for this listicle, and we’re going to narrow our sights a little, choosing only the best or most informative pieces while still maintaining a cross-section of sources, so as not to serve up doorstops when people are looking for conversational fodder. There’ll be a little less piggy-backing as those things tend to be more of the same.

I try to steer clear of things like Power Rankings and such. I don’t think they add to appreciation of the game among the cognoscenti and we don’t cater to the less-knowledgeable fan. We also won’t be featuring pieces favoring gambling or excessive alcohol consumption. Thanks, as always, for taking the time to read these things.

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• Rick Morrissey (Chicago Sun-Times*): Love is in the air because of Major League Baseball’s new pitch clock. “The innovation will bring more excitement to a game in dire need of it.”
• Jimmy Golen (AP*): ‘Every number is good’: Analytics helping speed up baseball. “... baseball’s brain trust already is trying to figure out what might come next in its efforts to make games more exciting and keep them moving along.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Marcus Stroman hires ex-Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen as agent, looks forward to new year with Cubs. “I think I’ll be able to play until 45, honestly,” Stroman said.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Cubs still looking at lefty relievers, Hoyer ‘wouldn’t be shocked’ by addition. “... you have to figure the Cubs are looking to land someone with a low base salary and significant production incentives.”
• Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Cubs prospect notes: Ben Brown’s arsenal, Hayden Wesneski’s chances and more. “There’s an appreciation for baseball here with the Cubs. Don’t take that for granted because there’s a lot of places out there that really don’t get as much love as Chicago,” said Wesneski.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): The Cubs are very happy about their new catching tandem. “... they’re not shy about heaping praise on Barnhart and Gomes in a very specific way.”
• Aldo Soto (Sports Mockery*): Cubs may have found their new leadoff hitter. “It’s a good challenge for an improving player and at this point Hoerner probably is the best option on the roster.” Evan Altman has thoughts on this.
• Tony Andracki (Marquee Sports Network*): 23 for ’23: What is the Cubs’ plan at third base? “The list of options runs at least six deep: Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal, Christopher Morel, Zach McKinstry, Edwin Ríos and Miles Mastrobuoni.”
• Alexander Patt (Cubbies Crib*): Ian Happ is locked in already this Spring. “Happ is slashing .500/.636/.625 with four RBI, two walks, and a stolen base in eight at-bats...”
• Mark Feinsand (MLB.com*): With Opening Day in doubt, Cubs won’t rush Suzuki. “If he makes it back for that, that’s great, but that’s not what we care about. We just care about getting him totally healthy,” said Jed Hoyer. Tony Andracki has thoughts about this.
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): How Nico Hoerner is helping Chicago Cubs teammate Seiya Suzuki deal with his oblique injury: ‘It’s a setback’. “Swinging is a violent thing and it’s something that’s hard to do when you’re anything less than 100%,” Hoerner said Thursday.

Food for Thought:

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