Cub Tracks’ ten spot

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.

In the minors: Patrick Wisdom had a good game in his first rehab start, going 1 for 3 with a walk and a bomb. Adrian Sampson threw for the second time in the Arizona Complex League and allowed three runs on seven hits in three innings.

In Chicago: Justin Steele (8-2, 2.62) versus Cal Quantrill (2-4, 5.61), Cubs vs. first-place Cleveland to open a weekend series and stop a four-game skid. It didn’t start out well but Steely J is an adept and performed his usual legerdemain. The Cubs put up a crooked number in the third but could have had a lot more. Still, any number of runs is a plus when you have the man of Steele on the hill. Jared Young provided some insurance, and it was ON.

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• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Chicago Cubs front office not ready to commit to the buy-sell decision. “... there’s still a whole lot of if this, then that, but this, then that.” Paul Sullivan has thoughts. Andy Martinez talks preparation. Evan Altman also weighs in.
• Tim Britton, Grant Brisbee and Stephen J. Nesbitt (The Athletic {$}: MLB All-30: Buyers? Sellers? Tailors? Here’s our 2023 trade deadline tiers. Cubs: “Minor moves. Flip Fulmer. Settle on a closer. Lengthen the lineup. Extend Stroman.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): ‘We’ve got to be better’: Cubs can’t overcome miscues. “We’ve got to be better,” manager David Ross said. “Gave away a game.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Cubs Q&A: Thinking through the trade deadline and Jameson Taillon’s spot in the rotation. “Right now, he’s in our rotation and we don’t have any plans to move him out of it,” Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins said.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Brandon Hughes had his knee surgery, but it wound up a different surgery than expected. “Hughes underwent a surgical debridement of his left knee on June 28. A distal femoral osteotomy was the original recommendation, but an in-person review by the same specialist determined that the debridement was the better course of action.”
• Tony Andracki (Marquee Sports Network*): Cubs pitching prospects putting themselves on the map as possible Chicago rotation options. “Jordan Wicks was promoted to Triple-A Iowa this week while Ben Brown has been missing bats all season at the highest level of the Cubs system.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Jordan Wicks, Pete Crow-Armstrong could both be at Wrigley this season. “... the Cubs are not at a point where they can keep looking past tomorrow in favor of next week.”
• Steve Millar (Chicago Tribune*): With first base ‘a pretty open spot,’ Jared Young is creating more options for the Chicago Cubs. “It feels like the right spot for me and it’s one of those things where I just want to keep going,” Young said.
• Kimberlee Speakman (People*): Cubs’ Cody Bellinger is engaged to Model Chase Carter — see the ring! “The big event comes two years after the pair welcomed their first baby together, Caiden Carter Bellinger, in 2021.”

Food for Thought:

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