Cubs Giving Out Tickets, Series Lineups, Bote’s Body, and Other Bullets

The Little Boy got his yellow belt in Taekwondo last night, and it’s one of those cliche times when a parent really does feel proud as hell of their kiddo. More importantly, he was so proud of himself, which was enough to fill up my joy tank for a solid week.

• Wear your Cubs gear around town today. Might score you some free tickets:

Hint: Wear your favorite #Cubs gear tomorrow on your morning commute. #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/Ahw5vBgjkB

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) February 22, 2019

• A little more clarity from Joe Maddon on his “series lineup” comments that we talked about in the Bullets yesterday. This makes more sense:

Joe Maddon clarifies whole "series by series" lineups thing. Instead of letting players know the day before if they're in/out of lineup, Maddon/Cubs coaches will try to map out a series at a time and let everybody know before that series begins what lineups *may* look like.

— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) February 21, 2019

Maddon says lineup decisions for platoon type players won't change from the past. Its based on match-ups. Did say he may communicate them to the players before each series instead of day before each game. So if a guy is sched to be off but goes 4 for 4, he's still likely off, etc

— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) February 21, 2019

• So there you go. It’s a pretty small change, and one designed primarily to be about communication with players (and giving them earlier heads ups), not designed to fundamentally change the way guys are deployed.
• Gotta love the desire on this young man – couldn’t work his body for a while, so he worked his mind:

Cubs top pitching prospect Adbert Alzolay couldn't get out on a mound to continue his development last summer, so instead he poured himself into watching video of MLB hitters and figuring out how to attack them for when he gets that call to "The Show":https://t.co/e8iBkcjbYC

— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) February 21, 2019

• David the Tank? He says he actually didn’t really pack on much more than a few pounds of muscle this offseason, and instead, the reason he looks so beefy is because his posture is fundamentally changed – thanks to a recommendation from Cole Hamels. More on that kind of unique, veteran clubhouse leadership (some of which is what the Cubs were paying handsomely for):

The art of leadership: How Cole Hamels is teaming with Jon Lester to run Cubs clubhousehttps://t.co/EEYu7lOt02

— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) February 21, 2019

• More on the Bote part of that here at the Tribune. The improved posture and flexibility is part of the reason the Cubs are more open to looking at Bote as a back-up at shortstop in the first month of the year while Addison Russell is suspended under the domestic violence policy.
• At little PECOTA sparring:

Good lord, did not not know how hard Cubs twitter was going to ratio me for not getting the right numbers out within 5 minutes. Here are the correct numbers: pic.twitter.com/kPymSaAFNR

— Rob Arthur (@No_Little_Plans) February 21, 2019

• I did some googling, and I think it looks like Epstein was using initial PECOTA projections (which were under the Cubs by 36 wins over the past four years), rather than the final ones before the season began. Unless the Cubs are going to make another significant addition from here, though, their current PECOTA projection – 79 wins – is the one that’s going to be the “prove it” number for this season.
• MacBooks and car jumpstarters are among your Deals of the Day at Amazon today.
• This strikes me as a smart investment with legalized sports gambling having the potential to open up across the country in the coming years:

Action Network gets $17.5 million in new round of funding, including cash from Cubs, 76ers & NJ Devils owners https://t.co/Ylj9LZQ756

— Ben Strauss (@benjstrauss) February 21, 2019