Cub Tracks votes for none of the above

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.

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This game always was going to be the hardest for the Cubs to win whether on paper or grass and dirt, and they didn’t. Gerrit Cole was his usual self and so was Giancarlo ‘Mike’ Stanton. Montgomery Brewster Drew Smyly pitched badly, but, had his mound opponent been someone else, he might have won. He’s been a rock in the Cubs’ rotation so far this year — it’s just that paper covered rock this time. The day was not without highlights:

The Cubs’ rotation is good, you know. It really is:

I want them to stand more or less pat at the deadline. Maybe do some minor housekeeping. It’s not a popular road but I see enough of the base of a really good team with just a couple of moves in the right directions and a couple of contract-tenderings. We’ll see how the money feels, and await developments.

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Speaking of developments:

The Futures Game was on Peacock at 7 p.m. CT. I watched it while I was barbecuing. Good times. I hope you saw it, too.

• Steve Megargee (AP*): Is MLB’s pitch clock leading to better defense? Some players and coaches think so. “I think it’s helping defensively a lot, just because you don’t have the down time to really kind of walk around,” said Seattle Mariners second baseman Kolten Wong.
• Gary Phillips (NY Daily News*): Giancarlo Stanton’s two-homer day fuels Yankees’ offense in win over Cubs. “Just good to put us up,” said Stanton, who entered the day hitting .199 with the Yankees’ lineup scuffling overall.
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Jameson Taillon returns to the Bronx, ends brutal first half with best start as a Cub. What a difference a day makes. Evan Altman has more.
• Will Leitch (MLB.com*): Ranking the 8 sluggers lined up for Monday’s HR Derby. “Sure, the defending champ, Soto, isn’t here. But another two-time champ is, as well as the all-time leader in homers in one Derby, an MVP, a postseason MVP and two of the most exciting young players in the sport. This one is stacked.”
• Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): Cubs All-Star shortstop lands on 10-day IL. “It’s the first IL stint for Swanson since 2019, who missed a month with a right foot contusion then.”
• Maddie Lee (Chicago Sun-Times*): ‘They just haven’t been watching’: Nico Hoerner’s teammates make his All-Star case. “Just the plays he makes, how he battles, his clutch timely hitting, seems like he’s always doing something each and every game to shift the momentum of the game,” Marcus Stroman said. “I feel like he’s easily an All-Star.”
• Ethan Sears (NY Post*): Ex-Yankee Mike Tauchman has resurrected career with Cubs after stint in Korea. “... the ailing Yankees’ outfield could use someone to do for them what Tauchman did for the 2019 squad.”
• Gary Phillips (NY Daily News*): Willie Calhoun knows first-hand that Cody Bellinger would fit with Yankees. “I’ve seen him grow from a guy that hit three homers in short season [leagues] to a guy that hit 40 homers in the big leagues,” Calhoun said. “So it’s been fun to watch him grow into the guy he is.”
• Bryan Smith (Bleacher Nation*): With this year’s draft fast approaching, let’s look back on how last year’s Cubs picks are doing. “This part of the baseball season is the most chaotic in MLB front offices.”

Song of the Day:

Food for Thought:

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