Cub Tracks’ man of Steele

Welcome to today’s episode 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.

The Three Laws of Robotic Umps (with apologies to Isaac Asimov)

1. A robotic umpire may not misidentify a thrown ball or, through misidentification, allow a strike to be called a ball, or conversely, a ball to be called a strike. All calls must be objectively correct.

2. A robotic umpire must objectively and correctly interpret the strike zone except where such interpretation would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robotic umpire must make the objectively correct call as long as such a determination does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Cub Tracks welcomes the robot overlords, as always.

Miguel Amaya looked pretty good. Is he MLB-ready? What to do about Tucker Barnhart? Eric Hosmer? David Ross? All three have gathered some rather pointed commentary out there in the blogoverse. Doubtless you have your own opinions.

In the meantime, the Cubs gave the ball to the best pitcher in baseball™, Justin Steele (5-0, 1.45) trying to avert the dreaded sweep by the stinkin’ Cardinals, who offered up Jordan Montgomery (2-4, 3.29) in a battle of southpaws. Steele won the decision.

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• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation*): I want to talk about Cubs TV broadcasts. “... there’s just too much going on in general.”
• Jimmy Golen (AP*): Robo umps reach Triple-A, but MLB rollout still uncertain.
• Jon Greenberg (The Athletic {$}): How I’ve come around and learned to love the rebuild. “Losing is nothing new here, but every team in town has essentially followed a plan to lose on purpose in the last decade. “
• Matt Trueblood (North Side Baseball*): David Ross is not the manager the Cubs need to turn the corner. “Because of his status as a beloved leader on the World Series champion team of 2016, and because he did a fine job of keeping the team together over the short and absurd COVID season of 2020, Ross has been given a long leash.”
• Tommy Birch (Des Moines Register* {$}): How Kyle Hendricks did in his latest rehab start with the Iowa Cubs. “I felt like myself again,” Hendricks said. “I could see the glove. I was doing what I wanted to do. I was moving pitches off of one another.” Aldo Soto has more Hendricks.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Clutch hits just not falling in ‘tough stretch’ for Cubs. “The intent is there. The work is there. Balls aren’t falling for us right now,” said David Ross. Patrick Mooney doesn’t overreact {$}. Larry Hawley has words.
• Lawrence W Holmes (Chicago Sun-Times*): Good times aren’t back at Wrigley yet, but you can see them from here. “The Cubs making logical moves, plus struggling division rivals, means happy days might be returning to the North Side.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Willson Contreras has a lot to learn about being a true villain with the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. “Baseball is entertainment, so kudos to Contreras for playing along and trying to breathe some life into a rivalry that has seen better days.”
• Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): Cubs feel they avoided big injury concern with Nico Hoerner’s hamstring. “I’ve had injuries before and it did not feel like, ‘Oh, wow, I’m injured type of thing,” Hoerner said.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): The energetic spark and tremendous talent of Christopher Morel. “Morel is, among other things, a superlative athlete.”
• Regina Ham (Fan Nation*): Chicago Cubs Bellinger is the surprise star of the early 2023 season. “Bellinger is a high-caliber offensive player that can easily play Gold Glove defense in the outfield.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Cubs GM Carter Hawkins says the Cubs would “Love” to find a way to keep Cody Bellinger around long-term (but).
• Jordan Campbell (Cubbies Crib*): Seiya Suzuki should be moved down in starting lineup. “Suzuki is actually costing the Cubs runs with runners in scoring position as FanGraphs lists his wRAA (Runs above average based on wOBA) as -1.3.”

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!