Cub Tracks’ nerves 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 Cubs move on, with Edwin Uceta and Richard Bleier, minus Tucker Barnhart, who went the way of the DFA.

They had their hitting shoes on Saturday, in the park, on a fine 80-degree August day, with the wind blowing out, and a Bellinger bellringer staked them to a small lead, in response to a single run scored by KC.

Jeimer Candelario got the hard part of the cycle over with and scored the third tally.

Justin Steele pitched like he is capable of. Belli kept bombing.

The runs kept on coming. The bullpen struggled a bit. But Adbert shut the door and turned off the lights. Meatloaf for the taking, today.

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• James Fegan (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs see how thin margins are with loss to lowly Royals. “Before losing to the Royals on Friday, Cubs manager David Ross warned against looking at this current stretch of 12 games against sub-.500 teams as a cakewalk.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs keep rolling behind Bellinger’s 2-HR game. “As good as it’s been for him, it’s been better for us,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said this week.
• Jaylon Thompson (Kansas City Star*): Royals vs. Cubs came down to one matchup. Here’s what went wrong in Saturday’s loss. “Before Saturday, Kansas City Royals pitcher Brady Singer had gotten the best of a brief history against Chicago Cubs slugger Cody Bellinger.”
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Don’t plan on seeing Marcus Stroman again any time soon. “We’re in a playoff push and hopefully I can contribute,” Stroman said, per Marquee. Sahadev Sharma has words {$}. Meghan Montemurro has more.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Jameson Taillon wants to ‘prove’ it with Stroman return in question. “I have an opportunity in front of me to step up and prove why they went and got me.”
• Darragh McDonald (MLB Trade Rumors*): The Cubs’ breakout closer. “Alzolay has gone from an unheralded minor leaguer signed for a modest $10K bonus to now being one of the best relievers in the majors this year.”
• Andrew Seligman (AP*): For Ian Happ, vision of Wrigley Field comes to life through partnership with artist. “Happ’s view of Wrigley Field is on display at a Chicago art gallery...”
• Ryan Taylor (NBC Sports Chicago*): Is $200 million too much for Cody Bellinger? ESPN Insider weighs in. “I think that’s probably a little high. I don’t think clubs are gonna have an easy time forgetting the last two years,” Jeff Passan said.

Song(s) of the day:

Food For Thought:

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