Cub Tracks lets one slip away

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 Cubs rolled into Wednesday in possession of the meatloaf and hungry for more, hoping to be fitted for a dustpan. They put up a crooked number early.

Justin Steele came out after three hitless shutout innings (there’s an MRI in his near future), and Hayden Wesneski and his frisbee took the hill. Weznasty was great but the others gave up runs, and so the Cubs will have to serve meatloaf on their day off.

* 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.

• Lawrence W. Holmes (Chicago Sun-Times*): The Cubs have problems, but David Ross isn’t one. “Fans are understandably running out of patience, but the manager isn’t necessarily the villain of the season.”
• Ryan O’Rourke (Cubbies Crib*): 3 reasons why the Chicago Cubs are still in the running and 2 why they’re not. “Things are dire on the North side and fans are, understandably, furious at another year that feels wholly unserious.”
• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times*): A June assignment for all the Cubs: Just go ahead and be like Marcus Stroman. “No one on the team has more confidence — or fun — than Stroman, the undersized right-hander who sometimes looks like a kid out there.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune*): A blown chance to sweep the Tampa Bay Rays and an injury to Justin Steele make the Chicago Cubs’ day a total loss. “I’m really not too concerned about it,” Steele said, adding his forearm was “throbbing” after the second inning.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks is back and Hayden Wesneski is up. Could Ben Brown be next? “This is how the Cubs start winning again and convince the front office to not sell at the trade deadline.” More Hendricks, Wesneski from Meghan Montemurro.
• Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): Why the Cubs see Hayden Wesneski’s place in the bullpen — for now. “Wesneski will likely be used as a multi-inning reliever...”
• Matt Trueblood (North Side Baseball*): Will the Cubs’ bullpen look completely different in a week? “... the Cubs’ bullpen has been a persistent problem this year.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Adbert Alzolay closed out the Rays in dominating fashion, but is he “The Closer”? “... I do think we’ll continue seeing him get those biggest of the big moments.”
• Mike McGraw (Daily Herald* {$}): Pitcher-catcher combinations making a difference for Cubs. “Manager David Ross, a former catcher, acknowledged he does make out the lineups with battery mates in mind.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Nick Madrigal hit an opposite-field home run of the type that actually left the ballpark. “.I did not know he was physically capable of doing it.”
• Tommy Birch (Des Moines Register* {$}): Chicago Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins on Crow-Armstrong, Brennen Davis and more. “Hawkins, in his second season with the Cubs, is getting an up-close look at the team’s top Triple-A franchise this week.”
• MLB.com*: Chicago Cubs host annual Pride Celebration at Wrigley Field June 13. “A portion of the proceeds from each ticket will be donated to Cubs Charities to support LGBTQ+ community partners.”
• AP: Blue Jays’ Bass apologizes for sharing anti-LGBTQ+ social media post. “... Anthony Bass apologized Tuesday...”

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!