May 12, 2017

Chicago Sun-Times, Will Eddie Butler make his mark? Cubs sure could use the boost http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/will-eddie-butler-make-his-mark-and-give-the-cubs-a-needed-boost/

Chicago Sun-Times, Are Cubs a trade partner for White Sox? Theo says don’t bet on it http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/are-cubs-a-trade-partner-for-white-sox-theo-says-dont-bet-on-it/

Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs superfan ‘Woo Woo’ says team kicked him out of Wrigley Field http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/cubs-superfan-woo-woo-says-team-kicked-him-out-of-wrigley-field/

Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs IF Jeimer Candelario stays as Justin Grimm optioned to AAA http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/cubs-if-jeimer-candelario-stays-as-justin-grimm-optioned-to-aaa/

Daily Herald, Who's hot and who's not in the National League Central http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20170511/nl-central-logjam-helping-chicago-cubs-keep-pace

Daily Herald, Constable: Jon Jay not quite John Jay http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20170511/constable-jon-jay-not-quite-john-jay

Cubs.com, Wawrzyniak an unsung hero for many Cubs http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/229657480/linda-wawrzyniak-an-unsung-hero-for-cubs/

ESPNChicago.com, Can Eddie Butler answer the Cubs' No. 5 starter question? http://www.espn.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/44124/can-eddie-butler-answer-the-cubs-no-5-starter-question

CSNChicago.com, Why Joe Maddon Won’t Hit The Panic Button With Slow-Starting Cubs http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/why-joe-maddon-wont-hit-panic-button-slow-starting-cubs

CSNChicago.com, Cubs Make Roster Moves To Create Room For Pitcher Eddie Butler http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/cubs-make-roster-moves-create-room-pitcher-eddie-butler

Chicago Tribune, 10 reasons why it's OK to panic about the Cubs' slow start http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-ok-to-panic-cubs-slow-start-spt-0512-20170511-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Cubs focused on their own business, not resurgent rival Cardinals http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-visit-resurgent-cardinals-spt-0512-20170511-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Jeimer Candelario stays with Cubs as reliever Justin Grimm optioned to Iowa http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-option-justin-grimm-iowa-spt-0512-20170511-story.html

-- Chicago Sun-Times Will Eddie Butler make his mark? Cubs sure could use the boost By Steve Greenberg

ST. LOUIS — “Will Kris Bryant ever hit again?” I wrote those words the last time the Cubs were at Busch Stadium. It was two games into the season, and Bryant, the reigning National League MVP, was off to an 0-for-9 start. My question was tongue-in-cheek, of course, no more serious than asking if Earth would continue to rotate or if the President had any tweets left in him. Yet enough tone-deaf Cubs fans ripped me for prematurely pressing the panic button that I had to wonder if my own game was regular-season ready. So here we are, back in St. Louis for a weekend series against the rival Cardinals, and about that panic button? No one should be pressing it, at least not in earnest. But the Cubs are 17-17, in fourth place in the NL Central, and not playing as well as even a disappointing record like that indicates. Gazing at the button from across the room? Yeah, that might be appropriate. Nearing the quarter pole of the season, the Cubs have quite a list of things that aren’t going well. There’s the Kyle Schwarber leadoff experiment, to name one, though why pick on him? Aside from Bryant, hardly anyone is doing much hitting of the baseball. Even the defense, which was supposed to be the backbone of the team, has been leaky. Most troubling to me, though, is the starting pitching. It hasn’t looked anything like it did last season. Enter Eddie Butler, who’ll make his first start as a Cub in Friday’s series opener. The 26-year-old right-hander, acquired from the Rockies in February, was called up this week after posting a minuscule 1.17 ERA in five starts at AAA Iowa. Butler, a Rockies first-round draft pick in 2012, has yet to make his mark in the big leagues. In 36 career appearances — 28 of them as a starter — he’s 6-16 with a 6.50 ERA. Chalk up some of that to pitching in Denver, but still. This is the guy who’s going to stop the bleeding? Maybe a surprise success story is the shot in the arm the 2017 Cubs need. Maybe Butler can cool off the first-place Cardinals — who are on a 16-5 tear and just ripped off a 6-0 road trip, the first unbeaten trip of at least six games in franchise history — by picking up where he left off at Iowa. He had a terrific spring, too, the only Cubs starter to post a sub-1.00 WHIP (0.95). Is Butler a changed pitcher? That’s what he told me in Mesa. Matter of fact, he was confident as all get-out. “I think it’s going to be a great year,” he said. “I’m fighting for a spot in the rotation. I plan on making the team. If I don’t, I’ll go down to AAA and work as hard as I can and be ready when the time comes. I’ll pitch well and get my shot.” Nailed it. How about that? The Cubs weren’t going to have room for Butler on their season-opening roster no matter how well he pitched, but they were impressed. It was impossible not to be. “He’s got a great arm and is a strike-thrower, too,” manager Joe Maddon said. “He has shown really well for me. His stuff is well above average, velocity-wise, and [he has] a really good breaking ball. I think he’s very interesting.” What a fine time it would be for Butler to get his career all the way off the ground. Even if he doesn’t, the Cubs will be in good shape if Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks get dialed-in again, John Lackey remains competitive and Jake Arrieta puts some pieces back together. Yet the longer it takes them to do those things, the more a guy like Butler has a chance to really make a difference — to make his mark. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do,” he said a couple of months back.

He earned this opportunity. Now comes the hard part. -- Chicago Sun-Times Are Cubs a trade partner for White Sox? Theo says don’t bet on it By Daryl Van Schouwen White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said he isn’t opposed to making a trade with the Cubs. The subject came up again when Hahn talked to the media Tuesday, and Cubs president Theo Epstein was asked for his viewpoint Thursday on WSCR-AM (670). Epstein said he and Hahn talked about Chris Sale before the Sox traded their five-time All-Star to the Red Sox for four prospects in December. But it was a short conversation. “Rick and I have talked about players he’s had that have gone on to be traded,’’ Epstein said. “We had a really quick conversation about Sale. It lasted about 30 seconds based on the names that were involved that he would want, and not prospects but our very best big-league players, which, of course, was natural to ask for. He made a great trade.’’ With the Cubs facing a possible need to spruce up their starting pitching and the Sox in rebuild mode and having Jose Quintana, Derek Holland and Miguel Gonzalez off to good starts, the crosstown rivals could be viewed as a good match. But Epstein said don’t bet on it. “This has been an overblown media story,’’ Epstein said. “The teams are always going to talk, but it’s really unlikely to go anywhere from his standpoint or from our standpoint. There’s no ill will or animosity, it’s just the reality of the situation. “Will we exclude them from our coverage or our talks? No. Or will they exclude us? No. But realistically that’s not one you’d want to bet on.’’ -- Chicago Sun-Times Cubs superfan ‘Woo Woo’ says team kicked him out of Wrigley Field By Mary Mitchell Ronnie “Woo Woo” Wickers is probably the most famous Cubs fan alive. He’s been interviewed countless times by local and national media. Other Cubs fans have chased him down for selfies. A bobblehead, in full Cubs uniform, was even created for his character, and a documentary was made about his life. In 2001, in what must have been his proudest moment, Wickers realized his dream of singing during the seventh-inning stretch. But after being a Cubs superfan nearly all his life, Wickers still feels as if he is being disrespected rather than embraced. On April 19th, during the seventh inning, Wickers suffered the indignity of being ousted from the Wrigley Field bleachers because he couldn’t produce an e-ticket. A spokesman for the Cubs said Wickers had tried to get into the ballpark earlier without a ticket and that is why security staff approached him in the first place.

“Our guest services staff knows who Ronnie is. They know what he does and that he is here to enjoy the games and to somewhat entertain the fans,” said Julian Green, Cubs vice president of communications and community affairs. “But he has to have a ticket like everyone else,” Green said. Wickers, 75, denies he tried to sneak into the ballpark without a ticket, and apparently there is no written report of that incident. “They just lied about everything. I’m going to fight this with my last breath. I would like to sit down with Mr. Tom Ricketts for 10 minutes and let him roll back the videotape,” Wickers said. The superfan said a friend invited him to the game and the e-ticket was in that friend’s phone. When the friend, Scott Miller, couldn’t pull up the app on his cell phone to show the e-ticket, and began cursing at security staff, he was escorted out of Wrigley as well. “I was pretty irate,” Miller told me. “Without a doubt, it was pretty pathetic. Ronnie is a very upstanding person. I don’t know why the Cubs have never embraced him.” Janet Tabit, Wickers’ longtime friend, and the person who contacted me about this incident, also was asked to leave the ballpark. Tabit claims that when she asked security officers why they were singling out Wickers to show his ticket, they told her they had orders to ask for his ticket whenever he is in the ballpark. “The fact that they are told to see Ronnie’s ticket at every game is discrimination. We want to get to the bottom of this because Ronnie wants to feel welcome and embraced, and not get singled out and kicked out of Wrigley for no valid reason,” Tabit told me. Green said there is no such order pertaining to Wickers. According to Tabit, Wickers couldn’t have tried to get in the ballpark without a ticket because they were together until arriving at the ballpark. Wickers entered Wrigley with Miller and Tabit entered with three other friends. But Green maintains that the reason Wickers was approached was because he had been turned away for not having a ticket and was later found in the bleachers. “Ronnie is treated with the utmost of respect. If Ronnie showed up tomorrow with a ticket, there would be no issue,” he said. “It was the male (Miller) who refused to show the ticket. If he had shown the guest services staff the tickets, this wouldn’t have happened,” Green said. But this isn’t really about a $25 (plus taxes) bleacher ticket. This is about acceptance. Wickers became famous by being a goofy unofficial mascot for the Cubs. No doubt, he’s gotten a few free meals and tickets to the games over the years, but who would begrudge him that? After all, he was homeless for nearly a decade. Being “Woo Woo” hasn’t made him rich, and he certainly hasn’t been treated like he’s part of the Cubs franchise, but it has given him purpose.

“I know I am not on the company’s payroll, but I have supported this team all of my life,” Wickers told me, acknowledging he’s winding down. “I will be 76 years old this year, and I used to cheer really loud for years and years and years, but I don’t have the voice anymore and I’m quiet as a mouse.” Obviously, the Cubs don’t need “Woo Woo” to hype up the crowd anymore. Still, there’s no reason to treat this loyal fan as if he were a nuisance. “I started to let them drag me out of the ballpark and [news of] that would have gone all over the place,” Wickers said. What Ronnie “Woo Woo” wants most is recognition that he has been an important part of this city’s legendary team. -- Chicago Sun-Times Cubs IF Jeimer Candelario stays as Justin Grimm optioned to AAA By Gordon Wittenmyer ST. LOUIS — After -surviving three games in two days at Coors Field with the bullpen intact, the Cubs chose to option struggling reliever Justin Grimm to the minors to make room for Friday’s starter, Eddie Butler. Butler, the right-hander acquired from the Rockies in a February trade, joins the roster for the weekend series against the Cardinals after producing a 1.17 ERA in five starts for Class AAA Iowa. By sending Grimm to Iowa, the Cubs keep rookie corner infielder Jeimer Candelario on a bench that was significantly shortened in the last week by the need for extra relievers and bumps and bruises to infield starters. Shortstop Addison Russell was scratched from Wednesday’s lineup because of shoulder soreness that has bothered him for about a week. His status is to be evaluated again Friday. Russell called the issue “gradual soreness” he attributed in part to an inconsistent recent schedule that affected his work routine. Russell said he felt better after a day of treatment Wednesday. First baseman Anthony Rizzo is 6-for-50 (.120) with two extra-base hits in the last two weeks and has dealt with a sore left forearm after being hit by a 99 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman on Sunday. He’s expected to return to the lineup Friday after a scheduled day off Wednesday. The switch-hitting Candelario batted cleanup in the two games since his recall Tuesday from Iowa, where he was one of the Pacific Coast League’s hottest hitters. NOTE: Right fielder Jason Heyward, who’s on the 10-day disabled list because of a jammed right index finger, said he expects to return as soon as he’s eligible. That would be Tuesday, when the Cubs open a 10-game homestand against the Reds. -- Daily Herald Who's hot and who's not in the National League Central By Bruce Miles The one saving grace for the Chicago Cubs in the early part of the baseball season is that they play in the National League Central.

There are no Washington Nationals to contend with directly, and the Cubs found out this week the challenge posed by the NL West-leading Colorado Rockies. After losing two of three to the Rockies at Coors Field, the Cubs found themselves in fourth place in the Central. They begin a stretch of divisional play this weekend with three games against the Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium before coming home to play the surprising Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers. I've always been hesitant to draw any firm conclusions about a season until Memorial Day, and we're still more than a couple weeks away from that traditional milepost. With the Central so bunched -- only the Pirates have a losing record -- let's take a look at what's up and what's down with each team in the division. Chicago Cubs: What's up: In an early season that has felt sluggish and meandering, Kris Bryant has come on of late, going 9-for-30 with 2 homers over the past week. Bryant has a season line of .299/.401/.547 for an OPS of .949 to go with 7 homers and 18 RBI. What's down: Cubs pitchers rank 10th in the NL with 13 quality starts. They led the NL last year with 100. Offensively, the Cubs are down in two key categories: on-base percentage and walks. They led the NL in both stats last year, but they entered Thursday sixth in OBP and seventh in walks. Anthony Rizzo is at .218/.342/.398 and has 3 hits in his past 28 at-bats. Kyle Schwarber leads the club with 43 strikeouts and is at .195/.322/.374. St. Louis Cardinals: What's up: Like the Cubs, the Cardinals enjoyed Thursday off, but they are riding a six-game win streak. They've also been the comeback kids, rallying for victories this week. "You kind of scratch your head when you see this team continue to come back like they have," manager Mike Matheny told reporters. "It's not ideally how you draw it up, but it's something that's special." The Cardinals' pitching staff entered Thursday second in the NL in ERA. What's down: Former Cubs leadoff man Dexter Fowler has been limited to pinch-hitting duty lately because or right-shoulder soreness. FFowler is at .236/.311/.434 for the season, but he had a big 2-run triple Wednesday to help beat the Marlins. Cincinnati Reds: What's up: The Reds are one of the surprise teams in baseball. They entered Thursday night's game at San Francisco in second place with a record of 18-15. Joey Votto is back in top form with 10 homers to go with a line of .289/.408/.623 heading into Thursday. Zack Cozart had a line of .350/.442/.580. What's down: It remains to be seen how the Reds' pitching will hold up. Onetime Cub Scott Feldman leads the team's starters in ERA at 3.76. Cincinnati was 12th in quality starts. Milwaukee Brewers:

What's up: Eric Thames, who did not start Thursday afternoon's home game against the Red Sox, has been a revelation. He took a line of .333/.439/.744 (1.182 OPS) into the day. He had 13 homers and 25 RBI. Ryan Braun, who has been battling a calf injury, was at .287/.374/.574 with 7 homers and 18 RBI. The Brewers went into Thursday tied with Washington for the league lead in home runs (55). What's down: The Brewers are in the early stages of a rebuilding process, and most observers expect them to fall off as the season advances. They rank last in the NL in quality starts, a stat that has a way of catching up to teams. Pittsburgh Pirates: What's up: Onetime Cubs prospect Josh Harrison had a line of .299/.362/.479 with 5 homers and 12 RBI entering Thursday's game at Arizona. What's down: David Freese, who got off to a hot start, has been on the 10-day DL with a strained right hamstring. Andrew McCutchen went into Thursday at .215/.294/.397. The Pirates entered Thursday near the bottom of several key offensive categories. -- Daily Herald Constable: Jon Jay not quite John Jay By Burt Constable New Chicago Cub Jon Jay was 0-4 with three strikeouts in Wednesday's 3-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies, but the 32-year-old outfielder still is hitting .303, has thrown out a couple of baserunners and has played flawlessly in the field. And if you search Google for the John Jay School in Mount Prospect, the first thing that pops up is the spelling-challenged "John Jay Cubs." Turns out that dropped H makes a big difference, Granted, it's not obvious if you go to the John Jay School's website, where a click on the "About John Jay" tab tells you only about the grade school, its staff, students and honors, without mentioning its namesake. But a plaque under one of two John Jay portraits hanging in the school notes that the Jay with the H in his first name was the "1st Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court." "I had not heard there was a Jon Jay Cubs player until (Sunday). I just thought it was interesting," says Principal Mary Beth Niles, who is in her sixth year with John Jay School. "Of course, I'm familiar with the Supreme Court chief justice." The naming of the John Jay School and its counterpart, Admiral Richard E. Byrd School, was approved "in record time" without a debate by the Elk Grove Township District 59 school board shortly before midnight on June 20, 1966, according to a story in the Daily Herald archives. "In the past, the school board has been divided on names for its schools and several motions are defeated before one succeeds," the story noted. But Jay and Byrd, a Navy officer famous for his explorations of the North and South Poles, flew through the school-naming process. Just as Jon Jay, who was born in Miami and who won a World Series ring with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011, had a fine career outside Illinois, the other John Jay is better associated with the state of New York, where he served as governor. But John Jay certainly qualifies for the school honor. His likeness isn't on our money, and no one has written a musical about him, but Jay is featured alongside George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in "The Quartet," a 2015 book by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis about Founding Fathers who played key roles in making our Constitution possible.

"We can argue about who can be on top of the list of most important founders until the cows come home, but it's clear he should be part of the list," Ellis said in a 2015 Associated Press story headlined "What you should know about forgotten Founding Father John Jay." Jay teamed with Hamilton and Madison to write The Federalist Papers, 85 letters in the late 1780s making a case for the 13 colonies to ratify the U.S. Constitution. A member of the Continental Congress from 1774 through 1776, Jay served as president of that colonial group from 1778 through 1779. Told by President George Washington that he could have any government position he wanted in the new nation, Jay chose a spot as leader of our first Supreme Court. But a link between John Jay and Jon Jay is possible, notes Rose Kelly, longtime office manager at John Jay School. Every Friday is "spirit day" at the school, when staff members and some students wear their John Jay School shirts. Already working on the design for next year's shirts, Kelly thinks a Cubs-inspired white jersey with blue pinstripes and the name Jay on the back could be the ticket to motivate kids and maybe even lure Jay the Cub to visit the school. "That would be cool," Kelly says about the dream of getting Jon Jay to John Jay, where 220 of the 342 students speak a second language, primarily Spanish, as does Jay, who is comfortable giving interviews in English or Spanish. "Our kids would love that." That bond between Jon Jay and John Jay could happen. During Wednesday's broadcast, Cubs TV commentator Jim Deshaies referred to Jon Jay as the "Chief Justice," and, according to Baseball Almanac, the player's nickname is "The Federalist." -- Cubs.com Wawrzyniak an unsung hero for many Cubs By Carrie Muskat CHICAGO -- There's a joke that's told in the English classes for Cubs Minor Leaguers about two men being robbed, but one of them doesn't understand what the thief is saying. The robber tells the interpreter to relay the message that he wants all of the other person's money. After the guy says no, the robber threatens to kill him. The interpreter translates that, and the person confesses his money is buried under a rock by a church on Fifth Street. But the interpreter tells the robber: "He's ready to meet his maker." The joke is intended to illustrate how important it is to learn English. Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts also tried to emphasize the point when he met with prospects at the team's Dominican Republic academy in January 2013. Ricketts spoke to them in Spanish. "He told them the No. 1 thing they can do is learn English," instructor Linda Wawrzyniak said. "He didn't say, 'Win the World Series,' or 'Play great baseball,' but 'Learn English.'" Wawrzyniak is the driving force behind the Cubs' English language program. Her motto: "English builds relationships. Relationships build chemistry. Chemistry wins games. Teach English to win." It normally takes 500 hours of classroom time to get to the level of proficiency that Wawrzyniak's program aims for. They are able to reach that level in half that time. In March, 12 Cubs Minor Leaguers from the Dominican, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico and Taiwan took part in a graduation ceremony, dressed in bright blue caps and gowns, at the team's complex in Mesa, Ariz. Venezuelan Adbert Alzolay, now pitching at Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach, gave an emotional and eloquent speech, saying it was a "beautiful moment for us," and thanked the Cubs as well as his teammates for the opportunity.

"These guys came in here and couldn't communicate a year ago, and now we're having conversations," said Cubs Minor League coordinator Tim Cossins. "I joke with the guys all the time, they sound like they're from [New] Jersey." The focus is not to create a team of Jersey Boys, but to teach baseball-related English. Classes are four days a week, one hour each. Class size is limited to a maximum of 10 players. The teachers don't lecture about how to conjugate verbs, nor do they simply hand players tapes to listen to. There are times when the class will go onto the diamond. It's tough to explain what cutoffs and relays mean, or what to do with a man on first and nobody out. Wawrzyniak has spent countless hours watching games and talking to coaches to get the lingo right. "It's not just language, either," she said of her program. "There's so many things that come up in the classroom situation. These are young boys and they're not from this country. We're always on our toes to be ready to address things." The program helps the players assimilate to life in the U.S. For example, many of the Latin American players are startled by fireworks. "We had to explain, it's the Fourth of July, it's bombs bursting in air," Wawrzyniak said. "They don't know the history of the United States, they don't know what the song means." Some of the players had never seen lightning bugs. "They didn't want to hold them -- they were so scared," she said. There are lessons on text messages. "In our texts, we say, 'Ha ha,' and [Latins] say, 'Ji ji,'" she said. "[Mexican infielder] Carlos Sepulveda sat and talked to my daughter for at least an hour about all the texting slang. "American slang changes every five years. We address it, we talk about cuss words. 'That girl's a dime' -- what does that mean? We have to teach them a dime is 10 cents, and '10' means she's beautiful." Wawrzyniak gets an assist from her children about the latest slang, and she spends time on college campuses. "A lot of people want to teach English very properly, but you have to tell the players what 'bro' is and 'dude' is, because that's what they're going to hear," she said. "I think that's what makes us effective is that we're realistic in teaching the language." Players learn how to deal with social situations, how to handle interviews. The final exam is a 15-minute verbal presentation on finances. Wawrzyniak's mother, Olga Larimer, was a pioneer in bilingual education, and she built the program's curriculum. "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't have the background of my mom and the Cubs were my dad's favorite team," she said. "[My parents] both passed away the same year [2012], and I was offered the job in 2013. It was like karma." How important is it for players to learn English? Cossins saw it firsthand with catcher Willson Contreras. "People got a wrong read on Willson for a long time," Cossins said. "We didn't know his personality. If a guy's funny, you don't know, because he doesn't talk. You don't know if a guy is locked in because he doesn't look you in the eyes. That dynamic is a big one when you talk about evaluating and projecting and all of those things. You can get a misread. "[Wawrzyniak's program] is helping clear that up," he said. "They're helping fill the gap between what we know and what we don't know about our players."

Contreras admits not being able to speak English made it difficult at first. "I could understand, but I didn't know how to speak or respond," Contreras said. "That's why I was always smiling and shaking my head. Since then, I've been learning a lot and I'm able to communicate more." Wawrzyniak lives in South Bend, Ind., where the Cubs have a Class A team. She recalled a time when she sent players a text about the next English class and got a strange response. They wondered if they could get a ride. "My 'mom radar' went up," Wawrzyniak said. "I drove over to their house. It was cold but they didn't have coats, hats, they didn't have anything. They had been in Arizona, where it was warm." It was another lesson. She loaned them some winter gear. It's all part of learning about life in the U.S. "She's been an under-the-radar awesome grinder for us," Cossins said. "She's made a big impact." -- ESPNChicago.com Can Eddie Butler answer the Cubs' No. 5 starter question? By Jesse Rogers ST. LOUIS -- Before the Chicago Cubs start trading away coveted prospects for pitching, they’ll stay in-house for a tryout. Right-hander Eddie Butler replaces the ineffective and injured Brett Anderson in the rotation as the Cubs seek to find some consistency from their starters. Who is Butler and what can he bring to Chicago’s staff when he takes the mound against the first-place St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night? “He was a guy that we were very excited to trade for over the winter,” general manager Jed Hoyer said on ESPN 1000 Thursday morning. “He’s off to a good start in (Triple-A) Iowa; hopefully he keeps that going.” A first-round pick in the 2012 draft, the 26-year-old Butler was acquired after bottoming out with the Colorado Rockies. His career 6.50 ERA tells the story of his Coors Field struggles, but so far with the Cubs he has been lights out. “He’s a guy that relies on heavy sink with his fastball, so when he’s right he’s getting a lot of ground balls,” Hoyer said. Butler compiled a 1.17 ERA in five Triple-A starts after impressing the organization with a 0.95 WHIP in five spring-training appearances. He’s the classic change-of-scenery guy, especially as a pitcher getting away from Coors Field, where he couldn’t get his sinker to produce grounders the way he must to succeed. In fact, he averaged more fly ball outs than ground balls with the Rockies. The thin air of Denver didn’t help matters, but not all of his struggles can be blamed on pitching in Colorado. His career road ERA is 5.40, and according to ESPN Stats & Information, his ground ball-to-fly ball rate was nearly identical from home (49 percent) to road (51 percent). At least now he’ll be able to use his four pitches more evenly at Wrigley Field and on the road. “He has to put the ball on the ground, and when we’re right as a team, that’s something we do exceptionally well,” Hoyer said. “We convert balls on the ground to outs.” If Butler lasts more than a couple of innings, he’ll be an improvement over Anderson, who totaled 1 2/3 over his past two starts. That, combined with 13-inning and 18-inning games over the course of eight days, set the Cubs up for failure and, of course, a taxed bullpen. Now, it’s Butler’s turn to try to go deep into games. If he succeeds, it’s his job to keep.

“We have confidence in him,” Hoyer said. Even if Butler takes hold of a spot in the rotation, the Cubs are still going to be searching for pitching this summer, though. “We don’t have the luxury of waiting,” Hoyer said. “I think we’ll always be looking for it. One of the frustrations so far has been inconsistent pitching, but it’s been healthy besides Anderson. We have to think about the next layer of pitching [in case of injury].” Butler’s performance will go a long way in determining how much pitching the Cubs will look to acquire, and he won’t be eased into anything because the rival Cardinals have won six in a row to take hold of the division lead. “Hopefully Eddie can give us a good start on Friday,” Hoyer said. -- CSNChicago.com Why Joe Maddon Won’t Hit The Panic Button With Slow-Starting Cubs By Patrick Mooney “If we haven’t reached rock bottom with this, we’re pretty damn close.” – Mike Quade, May 17, 2011. If only all Cubs managers could have experienced Joe Maddon problems. Hit the panic button if Jon Lester wrecks his left shoulder while racing a dirt bike on his day off, or Jake Arrieta blows off an MRI and gets shut down with a torn lat muscle, or Kyle Hendricks parties to the point of a suspension for violation of team rules. The San Francisco Giants might already be nearing a point of no return with Madison Bumgarner in 2017 and forced to think about selling at the trade deadline. The New York Mets are a three-ring circus, desperately trying to restore order with Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey and now closer Jeurys Familia diagnosed with an arterial clog in his right shoulder. So while the Cubs never expected to be 17-17 and in fourth place in the National League Central by the middle of May, FanGraphs still gives them a 91.5-percent chance to make the playoffs. If you’re hoping for Maddon to publicly rip his players and storm out of a press conference, well, you haven’t been paying attention. “Starting pitching drives the engine,” Maddon said. “When you’re doing that right, everything else has a better opportunity or chance. Your defense gets bigger. Contact is not as hard. Hitters don’t have to battle from behind all the time. There’s more pressure on the other side. All those things are interchangeable. They’re interconnected. So as we pitch better, we’ll play better.” The next great hope for the pitching infrastructure is Eddie Butler, the change-of-scenery guy who will face the first-place St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night at Busch Stadium. Butler is a promising right-hander with top-prospect pedigree who pitched well at Triple-A Iowa – and put up a 6.50 ERA across parts of three seasons with the Colorado Rockies. Whether or not Butler clicks, the turnaround will have to happen with Lester, Arrieta, Hendricks and John Lackey – the top four starters from the rotation that led the majors with a 2.96 ERA last season (while no other starting group dropped below 3.60). The 2017 Cubs have a 4.56 rotation ERA with 13 quality starts through 34 games, putting an enormous strain on a much stronger bullpen and exposing some of the learning-on-the-job issues with the lineup. The defending World Series champs deserve the benefit of the doubt. But if the stress from back-to-back playoff runs finally catches up to 30-something pitchers and a rotation that has stayed remarkably healthy, then the

Baseball Prospectus playoff odds that are less bullish (77 percent) will plummet and Cubs fans will really have something to worry about. “I have so much confidence in these hitters,” Maddon said. “If we were hitting like on all cylinders – literally hitting on all cylinders – and these starting pitchers were pitching to their optimal situations and you’re playing sort of like this, I would be upset or concerned. “But I’m not. All these guys are going to play to their normal levels. We’ll pitch better. We’re definitely going to hit better. Overall, the defense, I think, is holding its own.” Eh, “D-Peat” is an area where the Cubs aren’t playing with the same focus or sharpness. By Thursday morning, only two teams in the big leagues had committed more errors than the Cubs (27). The team that led the majors in defensive efficiency last year now ranks 20th in that category. The Cubs have already allowed 23 unearned runs after giving up 45 all last season. Within the NL, the Cubs are still a middle-of-the-pack offensive team. Even with leadoff guy Kyle Schwarber striking out almost 30 percent of the time. Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward, Addison Russell and Willson Contreras are also at a sub-.700 OPS level (or anywhere from 32 to 100 points lower than the big-league average). “You need to fail on the major-league level in order to understand how to dig yourself out of that hole,” Maddon said. “I really expect fully and anticipate struggles, and even with guys that had shown a lot of success last year. We have a really young and inexperienced team still. “Even in spite of having two good seasons – and in spite of winning a World Series – we are young and inexperienced on a lot of different levels. So I really know we’re going to have problems. I know we’re going to mess up. I know we’re going to chase pitches. I know the process isn’t going to be right all the time. We might not think it all the way through. “It’s part of the process, man. We’re still in good shape, record-wise. We’re still in good position. And we haven’t even played near our best baseball.” The talking points about being young and tired will get old and tired if the Cubs don’t start playing up to their own expectations. But the Cubs didn’t make Maddon one of the highest-paid managers in the game because of his Xs and Os. This isn’t about breaking down arm slots and launch angles or making more T-shirts or calling up Simon the Magician again. The sense of calm will radiate out from the manager’s office. “I read the newspapers,” Maddon said. “I read the front pages. I have kids. I have grandkids. I have a foundation where we deal with a lot of people in very difficult situations. “At the end of the day, it’s a game. Listen, I want to win as badly as anybody. And I hate when we lose. I do carry it home sometimes. But I like to meditate in the morning. I like to get my thoughts together. Evaluate exactly what’s going on here. “Let’s not get carried away. Hyperbole has no place in all this stuff. But it has a tendency to creep in. Understand exactly what’s going on. Don’t exaggerate your plight. “If you really want to get wrapped up and be a finger-pointer constantly, it’s a tough way to live your life.” -- CSNChicago.com Cubs Make Roster Moves To Create Room For Pitcher Eddie Butler By Tony Andracki The Cubs made a roster move Thursday, but the moves they didn't make could be more interesting.

Pitcher Eddie Butler was called up from Triple-A Iowa and will start Friday in St. Louis as planned. Justin Grimm's seesaw journey continues as he was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Butler on the roster. Grimm — who hasn't quite gotten on track this season with a 7.53 ERA and 1.67 WHIP — was sent to the minors on May 5, only to be recalled two days later when Brett Anderson went on the disabled list. Anderson's lower-back strain created the opportunity for Butler in the rotation. Neither pitcher Felix Pena or infielder Jeimer Candelario were sent to the minors to make room for Butler and both players will get a shot to keep making the most of their opportunity in The Show. Pena was first called up when Grimm was sent down and the 27-year-old righty has allowed four runs (two earned) and seven hits in five innings with the Cubs. He had a 4.00 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in nine innings with the club last season. Candelario was called up as part of the Cubs' expanded roster for Tuesday's doubleheader and has remained with the big-league team through two roster cuts now. The 23-year-old corner infielder is one of the team's top prospects and is 1-for-8 with a walk and his first MLB RBI in his first two big-league games this season in Colorado. Butler, 26, was one of the game's top pitching prospects as recently as 2015 and sports a 6-16 record with a 6.50 ERA and 1.77 WHIP in 36 big-league games (28 starts). He is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in five starts with Triple-A Iowa this season. -- Chicago Tribune 10 reasons why it's OK to panic about the Cubs' slow start By Joe Knowles Does this weekend's series with the first-place Cardinals feel weightier than a typical set of games in May? Is a 17-17 record and fourth-place standing at this point of the season cause for concern? Are you a long-time Cubs fan? If you answered "yes" to the last question, you probably answered "yes" to the first two. Here are 10 reasons why it's not too early to worry about the 2017 Cubs. 1. One and done Let's face it: Repeating as champions in any sport is difficult, but it seems especially tough in baseball. The last three World Series champs failed to make the playoffs the next season, and the last National League team to win back-to-back World Series was the Reds in 1975-76. 2. Jake Arrieta He has four victories, most on the team. That's good, right? Not so fast. His velocity is down and his ERA (5.35) and WHIP are up (1.47). He has given up six homers already this season in 38-plus innings; in 2015, he gave up 10 in 229. If Arrieta can't be the ungodly ace he was in '15 (22-6, 1.77 ERA, 0.86 WHIP), the Cubs need him at least to be the dependable and occasionally brilliant starter he was last year (18-8, 3.10, 1.08 WHIP), not the enigma he was in four seasons with the Orioles when his ERA rose each year, from 4.66 to 5.05 to 6.20 to 7.23. 3. Lack of left-handed hitting During a radio interview on Thursday, Theo Epstein cited the team's inability to handle the "right-handed breaking ball" as one of the reasons for the slow start. Left-handed hitters are best equipped to handle that pitch, and the Cubs' biggest threats from the left side are struggling. Part-time players Miguel Montero (.354, 3 homers, .935

OPS) and Jon Jay (.303, .410 OBP) have been productive, but together they don't have as many at-bats this season as either Anthony Rizzo (.218) or Kyle Schwarber (.195), who play every day and hit at the top of the lineup. At least Jason Heyward (.253, 3 homers) is off to a better start than last season, though he's currently out with an injury. Switch-hitter Ben Zobrist (.222 overall, .247 vs. righties) is due for a hot streak. 4. No leadoff hitter The Schwarber experiment has to be considered a bust so far, though Joe Maddon doesn't have many viable options. Schwarber does draw his share of walks (21 in 32 games), but his team-high 43 strikeouts are troubling. Maybe a Jay/Albert Almora combo platter is in the offing, but if either of them is in the lineup, that means Maddon probably has to sit Heyward, Zobrist, Javy Baez or another one of the regulars. Is it too late for Dexter Fowler to change his mind again? 5. They miss Travis Wood Reliever, starter, outfielder, pinch-hitter — it's like the Cubs lost four players when they let him get away. 6. The Cardinals On paper, they might not be a match for the Cubs, but when has that ever mattered? If any team can rise up and overachieve, it's those *$@!%# Cardinals. Right now, they probably are preparing to bring up some unheralded nobody from the minor leagues who will go on to hit .350 or win 20 games or possibly both. 7. Joe Maddon Is it just us, or is the hipster-goofball-genius act wearing thin? Perhaps he's just waiting for the right time to pull a rabbit (or a mime) out of his magic hat. 8. Comfort and complacency Maddon said it's good to be uncomfortable, but the Cubs were so comfortable they basically kept the core of their 2016 team intact. The subtractions — Fowler, Wood, Jorge Soler, Jason Hammel and Aroldis Chapman — don't equal the additions — Jay, ancient reliever Koji Uehara and failed starter Brett Anderson, though closer Wade Davis has been excellent. Maybe by "uncomfortable" Maddon meant still wearing that tight-fitting "Try not to suck" T-shirt from last year that spent too much time in the dryer. 9. They miss David Ross Well, maybe, but for anyone to miss him, he actually would need to go away. That's going to happen soon, right? Please? 10. That's Cub Premature panic and pessimism are as much a part of Cubs tradition as bricks, ivy and communal urinals. -- Chicago Tribune Cubs focused on their own business, not resurgent rival Cardinals By Mark Gonzales Many Cubs players say they didn't pay much attention to the Cardinals' gaudy opening-night ceremony when they displayed three of their World Series trophies while honoring 11 of their franchise's legends. "The only thing I remember were players driving around in cars," shortstop Addison Russell said. "I really don't even pay attention to all that stuff."

Cubs fans expressed irritation, thinking the Cardinals were trying to overshadow the Cubs' 2016 title with their opening festivities. But the Cubs are focused on taking care of their own business when they return to Busch Stadium for a three-game series against the resurgent Cardinals. "I know it gets frustrating, even for us and the fans, because we're not playing as we expected to," catcher Miguel Montero said. "But the way we played last year, it's hard to do it every day. So you're always going to have your downs, and hopefully this is our down time and we'll start playing better." Since September of 2015, the Cubs have won 16 of 28 regular-season games against the Cardinals, not including their stunning victory in the 2015 National League Division Series. But the Cardinals have embarked on one of their most impressive runs during that span, recently completing a 6-0 trip and winning 16 of their last 21 games despite their annual spate of injuries to take over first place in the NL Central. "In the past, they've had a lot of health issues, especially with their pitching," Montero said. "And even with that, they still compete. Those are the teams you can't sleep on. Just bring your A game when you play them. They will take advantage of little mistakes we make. We just got to focus on what we can do." Despite adding Dexter Fowler and letting Matt Holliday depart via free agency, the Cardinals have committed 27 errors. But that's the same total as the Cubs, whose recent mistakes have led to untimely rallies by opponents and inflated the pitch counts of starting pitchers. "The biggest thing for me is defense," manager Joe Maddon said. "We haven't caught the ball with the regularity that we normally do. Those are our bedrocks of our stability of our performance." The shoddy defense has baffled Maddon. The offense has been productive — ranking seventh in runs scored and fifth in on-base percentage — despite sluggish starts from Kyle Schwarber and Anthony Rizzo. So with 128 games left, the Cubs vow to remain patient while playing in front of expected sellout crowds full of Cardinals fans sticking their collective chests out after their recent surge. "The fans are the ones who make those games more intense, because they have good fans like us," reliever Pedro Strop said. "And our fans travel well to St. Louis, so the noise and the fact we always play them when they're good makes the games more interesting. "I didn't know about their trophies (on the field), but that's in the past. We like our trophy. It's something we'll remember and one of the best moments in baseball history. But it's in the past. "We've got to get another one." -- Chicago Tribune Jeimer Candelario stays with Cubs as reliever Justin Grimm optioned to Iowa By Mark Gonzales Cubs manager Joe Maddon spoke Wednesday of the need to enhance Jeimer Candelario's development by making sure he finds regular playing time. In a somewhat surprising move Thursday, the Cubs elected to keep Candelario, 23, and instead optioned reliever Justin Grimm to Triple-A Iowa to make room for Friday night's starter, Eddie Butler.

Candelario could play a bigger role as the Cubs await word on the status of shortstop Addison Russell's right shoulder for the series opener against the Cardinals as well as right fielder Jason Heyward's return from an injured right index finger, perhaps as soon as Tuesday. Maddon described Candelario's role as a "cameo" one that would give him more opportunities. His ability to play third base and first base has allowed Maddon to shift Kris Bryant from third to the outfield. Candelario is 1-for-8 in two games at the cleanup spot. He started Wednesday at first base as Anthony Rizzo received his first break of the season. There's a trickle-down effect with Russell's injury. Candelario's ability to play third allows backup Tommy La Stella to receive playing time at second base, with second baseman Javier Baez shifting to shortstop while Russell recuperates. The 13 1/3 innings John Lackey and Kyle Hendricks pitched in the past two games, combined with Thursday's day off, lessened the need for an extra reliever. Grimm has a 7.53 ERA in 13 appearances and has allowed six home runs in 14 1/3 innings. Extra innings: Mike Montgomery and Brian Duensing have provided a strong left-handed presence in the bullpen. Montgomery has a 16-inning scoreless streak. Duensing hasn't allowed a run in his last seven appearances (8 2/3 innings) and has issued only two walks in 14 innings. ... Russell hasn't hit a home run and has driven in only three runs since his three-run, walk-off homer against the Brewers on April 19. --