Cub Tracks’ one-game streak

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.

Goodbye, Eric. See you in a week, Cody. Hello, Mike. Cream and sugar for your coffee? Edwin? Ok then. Not sure whether this roster is a liquid or a gas. It certainly isn’t solid.

Cubs tried to right the good ship Cub once again. The Stro’ Show opposes the winless Ranger Suarez. On paper, the Cubs have the edge.

Suarez went southbound in the second as the Cubs plated a crooked number, but he recovered enough to strike out the side. 66 pitches in two innings is a lot of pitches, though.

The hits just kept on coming. The Stro must go on.

Let’s do it again today!

* 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.

• Rick Morrissey (Chicago Sun-Times*): Remember when Cubs fans couldn’t get enough of David Ross? “With his team struggling, the Cubs manager has lost most of the goodwill he had built up as a player.” More Ross from Kade Kistner.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Marcus Stroman and the Cubs reportedly had “preliminary” extension talks this spring. “Stroman likes being a Cub. And the Cubs like having Stroman.”
• Alexander Patt (Cubbies Crib*): Pitching staff still on the lower end in velocity. “Per FanGraphs, the Cubs are currently in the bottom half (23rd) in average fastball velocity at 93.5 MPH and 21st in sinker/split fastball velocity at 85.3 MPH.”
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times*): Cubs’ Nick Burdi makes improbable big-league comeback. “Last August, Burdi wasn’t sure if he’d ever make it back to a big-league mound.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Is it time to shake up the Cubs bullpen? Is that a rhetorical question at this point? “The Cubs have precious few dependable contributors right now.”
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times*): Cubs’ lack of a closer forces manager David Ross to be creative.
• Jordan Campbell (Cubbies Crib*): Codi Heuer’s return has added importance for the Chicago Cubs. “The Cubs bullpen has had its struggles this season...”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Hot-hitting Seiya Suzuki is getting locked in and doing damage as Chicago Cubs offense tries to get on track. “I’m seeing the ball pretty well right now and I’m getting the bats that I want,” Suzuki said through interpreter Toy Matsushita. “I just want to continue how I’m doing right now.” More Suzuki from Evan Altman.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Cubs prospects Owen Caissie, Pete Crow-Armstrong are well on their way in minors. “You don’t have to go and look for those guys when it’s time to get work in,” Smokies hitting coach Rick Strickland said. More Caissie from Jordan Bastian.

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!