Results tagged ‘ Kerry Wood ’
5/18 To retire or not, that’s the question
In a February interview for the Cubs Vineline publication, Kerry Wood was asked about how much longer he wants to pitch. Had he thought about retiring?
“No, I haven’t,” Wood said then. “At the end of the year, we’ll assess things. If you plan for it — ‘Oh, this is my last trip to so and so’ — that wouldn’t be a fun last season for me. I think it would be draining. It’s something I’d probably do at the end of a season.”
Wood turns 35 in June. On Friday, word leaked that he will announce his retirement after his next appearance.
“There’s definitely stretches every season — there were times when I was 23 and I wanted to retire,” he said in February. “That’s why I think it’s best to let the season be finished, be done for a month or so, let the body recover and see if you want to go through it again.”
– Carrie Muskat
5/18 Wood to retire after one more appearance
Kid K is retiring — eventually. Kerry Wood, who burst onto the scene in 1998 with the Cubs, pitching a 20-strikeout game, apparently wants to pitch in one more game and was then expected to announce his retirement after that. There was no no pre-game announcement about Wood’s future prior to Friday’s Cubs game.
Wood, 34, wants one more outing, and will then leave the game after more than 14 seasons and 1,500 strikeouts. Entering Friday’s Interleague game against the White Sox, Wood was 86-75 with a 3.67 ERA in 445 games, including 178 starts. It’s been a difficult season for Wood, who has spent time on the disabled list with fatigue in his right shoulder.
Dale Sveum said Wood was available to pitch on Friday. The Cubs didn’t know about Wood’s decision until Thursday.
“You don’t prepare for something like this,” Sveum said.
– Carrie Muskat
5/12 About last night …
* Friday’s 13-inning game was 5 hours 4 minutes long, and strangely, followed the shortest game of the year on Wednesday, which was completed in 2:05
* The Cubs walked 14 batters, one shy of the franchise record of 15 set May 15, 1962, against the Mets, which also was a 13-inning game.
* There were 466 pitches thrown (235 by eight Cubs pitchers, 231 by eight Brewers pitchers). Rafael Dolis threw a season-high 41 pitches; his previous high was 39 in his second appearance of the season on April 10 against the Brewers. Dolis now is 3-for-5 in save opportunities this year. Kerry Wood matched his season high with 25 pitches.
“Woody did a great job,” Dale Sveum said. “Hopefully that builds his confidence up.”
* Bryan LaHair was 0-for-6, and his batting average dropped from .384 to .359. His streak of reaching base safely ended at 27 games. Starlin Castro did extend his hitting streak to 10 games.
* After combing for one run over the first six innings, the Cubs and Brewers then totaled 14 in the final seven.
– Carrie Muskat
5/9 WHIP numbers
A key statistic to gauge how pitchers are doing is WHIP, or walks plus hits per innings pitched. The lower the number the better. Here are the Cubs bullpen numbers:
Rafael Dolis 1.09
Shawn Camp 1.19
James Russell 1.32
Carlos Marmol 2.16
Kerry Wood 2.77
The Marlins Heath Bell has the highest WHIP in the Major Leagues at 2.88.
Among the Cubs starters, Ryan Dempster ranks fifth in the Major Leagues with an 0.85 WHIP and Matt Garza is eighth at 0.89.
– Carrie Muskat
5/9 Sveum: “We’re not perfect”
Dale Sveum didn’t see Kerry Wood throw his glove and cap into the stands after Tuesday’s game but he understood why Wood did it.
“Do I care? Of course, I care,” Sveum said. “I don’t condone it or wish it to happen all the time. We all know in this game that there’s frustration that happens and sometimes we regret things we do. We’re not perfect human beings. I missed the whole thing, so I didn’t see any of that.”
The game was tied at 1 in the eighth when Wood took over and he walked two batters and gave up two hits, including a game-winning two-run single by the Braves’ Dan Uggla. Has managing the bullpen been a challenge for Sveum?
“I guess you could say that,” Sveum said. “We’re always trying to be optimistic about the team. On the other hand, we’ve had some guys step up and do a great job.”
He complimented James Russell and Shawn Camp and said rookie Rafael Dolis has done well in clutch situations.
“We’ve had a lot of bright spots, too,” Sveum said. “A month in, you’re dealing with situations and how to handle them and what roles. It’s not that cut and dry, seventh, eighth and ninth guys, that’s for sure.”
Wood was making his second appearance since coming off the disabled list with right shoulder fatigue. He’s now given up seven runs on six hits and six walks over 4 1/3 innings in six games this season.
“It’s just a matter of getting comfortable and in a rhythm and bottom line, throwing strikes and being able to use your fastball and getting back in counts,” Sveum said. “He still has to be able to use that breaking ball. There’s a lot of things to work on. Sometimes it just takes a few times on the mound.”
– Carrie Muskat
5/8 Wood can’t get a break
It was a rough night for Kerry Wood. With the game tied at 1 in the Braves eighth, Michael Bourn singled off Wood, who then walked Martin Prado. Prado was forced at second on Freddie Freeman’s fielder’s choice. Wood then walked Brian McCann to load the bases, and after a visit from pitching coach Chris Bosio, Dan Uggla singled to center, driving in two runs. That was enough for a 3-1 Braves win.
“I made pretty good pitches tonight,” Wood said. “The walk to McCann with a base open, I’m not going to give in to him. I made a good pitch, I thought, to Uggla and turned around and we had the shift on, and when things are going bad, you don’t get breaks and I didn’t get any tonight. I’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
Wood, 34, was making his second appearance since coming off the disabled list and now has given up seven runs on six hits and six walks over 4 1/3 innings in six games.
“The shoulder is great and that’s the frustrating thing,” said Wood, who was sidelined with right shoulder fatigue. “I bounced back from the [cortisone] injection and the shoulder feels great, stuff feels fine. I actually threw some good curveballs tonight for the first time in a while. It’s all about results and I didn’t have any tonight.”
The Cubs picked off McCann at second base to end the inning and as Wood left the field, he threw his glove and cap into the seats in frustration. He chose not to address the incident.
“It’s irrelevant,” Wood said to reporters. “Why the [heck] would you bring that up?”
“It’s frustrating,” manager Dale Sveum said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re young or a veteran guy. If you give up a couple runs and he walked a couple guys, it’s frustrating.”
– Carrie Muskat
5/4 Marmol out as closer
When your closer leads the team in walks, that’s not a good sign. Dale Sveum had seen enough, and called Carlos Marmol into his office on Friday to tell the right-hander that for now, he was no longer the Cubs closer.
“I just told Marmol be ready to pitch at any time,” Sveum said Friday. “It just got to that point to where we have to get him productive in some role. He was fine with it and understood. Hopefully, we can get him going and give him another chance.”
Part of the problem is that Marmol keeps throwing the slider and on Thursday in Cincinnati, might have escaped the mess in the ninth with a well located fastball. Bottom line, he has to throw strikes. Against the Reds, Marmol blew a 3-0 lead and gave up three runs, and the Cubs eventually lost, 4-3, in 10 innings. He has now walked 12 over 8 2/3 innings.
James Russell and rookie Rafael Dolis will share the duties, depending on matchups.
“You always hope somebody steps up and takes control of any situation and any role you give somebody,” Sveum said. “It’s not the easiest thing to do in the world, to get the last three outs in the game. We’re going to play it by ear and whatever matchups come up in the ninth inning, that’s who we’ll use.”
Using Russell in that role will severely limit the Cubs. He’s the only left-hander. Sveum is stuck because the Cubs want to keep Rule 5 pick Lendy Castillo, who is trying to make the jump from Class A to the big leagues, and neither Michael Bowden nor Shawn Camp have options left.
Will Marmol ever get his job back?
“He knows he has to get better and find it,” Sveum said. “I left that window open for him. If he starts pitching well and getting command back and stuff like that, there’s no reason I wouldn’t put him back in the closing role if he finds it again.”
Sveum continued his conversation with Marmol in left field during batting practice, and then Kerry Wood talked to Marmol on the field as well Friday.
– Carrie Muskat
5/3 Wells heads back to Iowa
Randy Wells wasn’t happy about being sent down to Triple-A Iowa but the Cubs aren’t going to carry 14 pitchers. Wells and Scott Maine were both optioned to Iowa to make room for Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood, both activated off the disabled list. Maine’s departure leaves the Cubs with one lefty, James Russell, in the bullpen.
“[Maine] did a good job while he was here, a really good job, and it’s very nice to have those two lefties in the bullpen,” Dale Sveum said.
Wells, 29, went 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA in two starts for Chicago following his recall April 22. He walked nine and gave up nine hits over 8 2/3 innings.
“It is what it is,” Wells said. “I didn’t pitch well. There’s no one really to blame but yourself. You obviously want to pitch well and put yourself in a good position but the numbers don’t stack up.”
“He’s got a future here,” Sveum said of Wells, “but we can’t sit here and promise anything. Right now, that’s the role he’s in is the swing man, coming up when we need starts.”
The Phillies scored four runs off Wells in the fourth inning on Saturday. Wells, who will be inserted into Iowa’s rotation, was upset at the high number of walks in his two starts.
“The walks are the only thing that spoils this,” the right-hander said. “I thought I pitched pretty good against the Reds [on April 22]. Five walks [stinks]. The fourth inning in Philly, things unraveled. It’s no different than what I’ve been the last three years, it’s one bad inning. Chalk it up as a bad day and get back to work.”
* Wood will be eased into games, and used in less stressful situations such as the sixth and seventh innings, Sveum said.
– Carrie Muskat
4/27 Wood, Dempster updates
Reports out of Philadelphia are that Kerry Wood had a good bullpen session on Friday and will throw a simulated game Monday and should be ready to go without a Minor League rehab appearance. He’s on the DL with right shoulder fatigue and was eligible to be activated Sunday. Ryan Dempster, also sidelined with a strained right quad, was able to throw and run on Friday. He’s making progress.
– Carrie Muskat
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