Wood as closer

[kente777]

I've heard several people alluding to the possibility of Wood being the dominant closer the Cubs need.

 

Personally, I have my doubts. Kerry has always had shaky first inning outings before settling down. I think he could be much better as a middle reliever provided he doesn't get too many innings.

 

I just don't know if Kerry can come in and pitch one inning of dominant baseball. He hasn't shown this in the past.

 

Ken

[Abe Frohman]

I've heard several people alluding to the possibility of Wood being the dominant closer the Cubs need.

 

Personally, I have my doubts. Kerry has always had shaky first inning outings before settling down. I think he could be much better as a middle reliever provided he doesn't get too many innings.

 

I just don't know if Kerry can come in and pitch one inning of dominant baseball. He hasn't shown this in the past.

 

Ken

 

Actually, he has done this in the past.

 

I will NEVER forget the Cub/Cardinal series right before they shut Woody down in 2005. He was hitting 99-100 on the gun and making the best hitting team in the NL look like HS kids.

 

He most definately is capable of being THE dominant closer in the game, and he has proven that he can come out and dominate for one inning.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Wood dominated as a reliever. The only doubts I have about sticking him in as closer would be the workload. But that problem is easy to work around with Howry, Eyre, and Wuertz.

[kente777]

I've heard several people alluding to the possibility of Wood being the dominant closer the Cubs need.

 

Personally, I have my doubts. Kerry has always had shaky first inning outings before settling down. I think he could be much better as a middle reliever provided he doesn't get too many innings.

 

I just don't know if Kerry can come in and pitch one inning of dominant baseball. He hasn't shown this in the past.

 

Ken

 

Actually, he has done this in the past.

 

I will NEVER forget the Cub/Cardinal series right before they shut Woody down in 2005. He was hitting 99-100 on the gun and making the best hitting team in the NL look like HS kids.

 

He most definately is capable of being THE dominant closer in the game, and he has proven that he can come out and dominate for one inning.

 

I guess I should have said he hasn't proven he can CONSISTENTLY come out and dominate for one inning. Granted, he hasn't really been in a closer position and I'm using his starting pitching as a measure of how he might be coming in to pitch cold out of the bullpen.

 

I'd certainly like to try, because he has the potential. As we all know, though, walks in the ninth can kill a save.

 

Ken

[goonys evil twin]

I don't believe Wood has always struggled in the first inning. I think his issue has always been that he often has 1 bad inning, but not necessarily in the first. For his career, opponent OPS against in the 1st is lower than the 3rd and 6th. I really don't think that's an issue for him. A guy like Tom Glavine has always struggled in the first, in comparison to the rest of his innings, but that's not the case with Wood.

 

I think he has very clearly shown that he can come in and throw 1 dominant inning, the only question is whether he can do that 75 times over the course of a season.

[kente777]

I really don't think that's an issue for him. A guy like Tom Glavine has always struggled in the first, in comparison to the rest of his innings, but that's not the case with Wood.

 

You may be right, and that stat you quoted about 1st inning OPS is interesting. I'm too lazy to look this up, but does anyone know how his walks in the first compare to other innings.

 

The mentality of a closer has to be different. To me, it would be a little easier (pressure wise) starting a game, rather than coming in the 9th with the game on the line. One walk could unravel a pitcher if he is not mentally tough.

 

Ken

 

P.S. Has Lou or Hendry mentioned the possibility of Wood as closer. I know he's coming back as a reliever, but I'm not sure if I have heard the words Wood and closer coming from managment.

[CheeseHead Cubs Fan]

I really don't think that's an issue for him. A guy like Tom Glavine has always struggled in the first, in comparison to the rest of his innings, but that's not the case with Wood.

 

You may be right, and that stat you quoted about 1st inning OPS is interesting. I'm too lazy to look this up, but does anyone know how his walks in the first compare to other innings.

 

The mentality of a closer has to be different. To me, it would be a little easier (pressure wise) starting a game, rather than coming in the 9th with the game on the line. One walk could unravel a pitcher if he is not mentally tough.

 

Ken

 

P.S.

Has Lou or Hendry mentioned the possibility of Wood as closer.

I know he's coming back as a reliever, but I'm not sure if I have heard the words Wood and closer coming from managment.

 

 

I thought Lou hinted at it... not sure, and can't seem to find an article to justify it.

 

Hendry mentioned he could throw 4-5 days per week. I will take 4 saves per week from Kerry!

[goonys evil twin]

I thought Lou hinted at it... not sure, and can't seem to find an article to justify it.

 

I believe he did say something about using Wood at the end of games, but it may have been just a throw-away phrase. This is from a Dec 6 article by Paul Sullivan.

 

Cubs manager Lou Piniella also recently spoke to Wood, the first player he called after getting the job.

 

"I plan to talk to a few of our players here, after the winter meetings are over, and one in particular is Derrek Lee," Piniella said. "But I have talked to Kerry, and we talked about the fact we really wanted him back and we planned on putting him in the bullpen. I wanted to see how he felt about that, and he really liked it. We were very pleased to have him back."

 

Does Piniella plan to give Wood the chance to win the closer's job?

 

"We're going to build up his arm strength and get him comfortable in spring training," Piniella said. "We want to do health-wise what's really good for him. Right now I think he's going to make a really good transition in the bullpen, but we'll let spring training tell us a lot about that."

[craig]

..Personally, I have my doubts. Kerry has always had shaky first inning outings before settling down. I think he could be much better as a middle reliever provided he doesn't get too many innings...

 

My recollection is like yours, that as a starter he tended to struggle with his control more in his first inning, and then sometimes settle down later on.

 

He certainly did look dominant during that 2005 stretch.

 

It's possible that when you pitch only once every 5th day, perhaps it's harder to find your control than when it's every other day. May also be harder when you're trying to establish your curve and change, when starting, then if you come out and it's primarily fastball attacking, which might be more the case in relief.

 

But I agree, the ability to throw strikes in his first inning will be an importnat question for Kerry as a reliever.

[goonys evil twin]

..Personally, I have my doubts. Kerry has always had shaky first inning outings before settling down. I think he could be much better as a middle reliever provided he doesn't get too many innings...

 

My recollection is like yours, that as a starter he tended to struggle with his control more in his first inning, and then sometimes settle down later on.

 

The stats seem to show that while he was wild in the 1st, it was no moreso than his typical wildness, and other innings were worse.

[C.C.]

In his brief middle relief stint I recall him not showing any wildness.

[kente777]

..Personally, I have my doubts. Kerry has always had shaky first inning outings before settling down. I think he could be much better as a middle reliever provided he doesn't get too many innings...

 

My recollection is like yours, that as a starter he tended to struggle with his control more in his first inning, and then sometimes settle down later on.

 

The stats seem to show that while he was wild in the 1st, it was no moreso than his typical wildness, and other innings were worse.

 

Here is my point....do we want any wildness from our closer? It is a heck of alot easier to recover from wildness if you are pitching in the 1st as opposed to trying to close out a game in the 9th.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that Kerry has the stuff to be a dominant closer. The question in my mind, aside from the issue of season long stamina, is whether he can control his wildness coming into a close ballgame cold off the bench.

 

I have my doubts.

[FergieJ31]

I've heard several people alluding to the possibility of Wood being the dominant closer the Cubs need.

 

Personally, I have my doubts. Kerry has always had shaky first inning outings before settling down. I think he could be much better as a middle reliever provided he doesn't get too many innings.

 

I just don't know if Kerry can come in and pitch one inning of dominant baseball. He hasn't shown this in the past.

 

Ken

 

Actually, he has done this in the past.

 

I will NEVER forget the Cub/Cardinal series right before they shut Woody down in 2005. He was hitting 99-100 on the gun and making the best hitting team in the NL look like HS kids.

 

He most definately is capable of being THE dominant closer in the game, and he has proven that he can come out and dominate for one inning.

 

I'll never forget that series against the Cardinals either.

 

Wood appeared 11 times in relief in 2005 after being removed from the rotation, and in that Aug 2005 series against the Cardinals he pitched 3 innings, gave up 1 hit, walked 2 and struck out 6, zero runs & zero earned runs.

 

He followed it up with two dominating outings at Houston and at Colorado.

 

In his 11 relief appearances Wood's line was:

 

12 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 17 K, 2 HR

 

Most days he was cutting through hitters like a chainsaw through butter. However he did have one bad outing against Atl. Two of those three ER were costly thanks to a ninth-inning game-winning two-run HR by Chipper Jones. (Chipper also had a two-run HR off big Z earlier in the game. Torching both Z and Woody with 2-run knocks in the same game mustve been quite a notch on his belt.)

[treebird]

Kerry Wood By Inning, Career

I Split          G    PA    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  BB  IBB  SO  HBP  SH   SF   ROE GDP  SB   CS  Pk   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  BAbip
+-+------------+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+---+----+---+----+----+----+---+----+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
  1st inning    178   758   650   90  146  24   4  22   88   0  190  12    3    5    7  19   24   8   4  .225  .326  .375  .701  .283 
  2nd inning    178   747   643   80  137  25   2  23   83   2  212   9    7    5   10  13    8   8   3  .213  .309  .365  .674  .279 
  3rd inning    175   750   618   72  135  24   8  18   99   0  191  12   14    7    6  15   19   8   7  .218  .334  .371  .705  .286 
  4th inning    171   702   594   58  115  23   2  13   81   4  202  15    6    6    5  14    8   8   2  .194  .303  .305  .608  .269 
  5th inning    163   667   575   67  130  27   0  18   63   1  176  17    9    3    1  13    7   3   4  .226  .319  .367  .686  .294 
  6th inning    144   598   519   64  121  29   3  17   63   3  163   9    3    4    2   8    9   4   2  .233  .324  .399  .723  .307 
  7th inning     88   334   291   25   61  12   2  12   34   1   97   5    1    3    2   7    6   2   1  .210  .300  .388  .688  .269 
  8th inning     44   168   136    6   20   3   1   3   30   0   55   1    1    0    1   2    2   1   0  .147  .305  .250  .555  .218 
  9th inning     15    54    46    7   10   2   0   2    5   0   13   1    1    1    0   0    0   0   0  .217  .302  .391  .693  .258 

[kente777]

Kerry Wood By Inning, Career

I Split          G    PA    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  BB  IBB  SO  HBP  SH   SF   ROE GDP  SB   CS  Pk   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  BAbip
+-+------------+----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+---+----+---+----+----+----+---+----+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
  1st inning    178   758   650   90  146  24   4  22   88   0  190  12    3    5    7  19   24   8   4  .225  .326  .375  .701  .283 
  2nd inning    178   747   643   80  137  25   2  23   83   2  212   9    7    5   10  13    8   8   3  .213  .309  .365  .674  .279 
  3rd inning    175   750   618   72  135  24   8  18   99   0  191  12   14    7    6  15   19   8   7  .218  .334  .371  .705  .286 
  4th inning    171   702   594   58  115  23   2  13   81   4  202  15    6    6    5  14    8   8   2  .194  .303  .305  .608  .269 
  5th inning    163   667   575   67  130  27   0  18   63   1  176  17    9    3    1  13    7   3   4  .226  .319  .367  .686  .294 
  6th inning    144   598   519   64  121  29   3  17   63   3  163   9    3    4    2   8    9   4   2  .233  .324  .399  .723  .307 
  7th inning     88   334   291   25   61  12   2  12   34   1   97   5    1    3    2   7    6   2   1  .210  .300  .388  .688  .269 
  8th inning     44   168   136    6   20   3   1   3   30   0   55   1    1    0    1   2    2   1   0  .147  .305  .250  .555  .218 
  9th inning     15    54    46    7   10   2   0   2    5   0   13   1    1    1    0   0    0   0   0  .217  .302  .391  .693  .258 

 

So aside from the 3rd inning, which I think Gooney quoted earlier, Kerry's 1st inning base on balls is next highest. He's also allowed the most 1st inning hits as well. He is also 2nd in 1st inning home runs.

 

I wonder if being a closer would toughen up Kerry mentally so he would cut down those 1st inning walks and hits?

[RichHillIsABeast]

So aside from the 3rd inning, which I think Gooney quoted earlier, Kerry's 1st inning base on balls is next highest. He's also allowed the most 1st inning hits as well. He is also 2nd in 1st inning home runs.

 

I wonder if being a closer would toughen up Kerry mentally so he would cut down those 1st inning walks and hits?

 

It might be better to look at rates and averages rather than BB totals as there are more PA in the early innings.

[goonys evil twin]

So aside from the 3rd inning, which I think Gooney quoted earlier, Kerry's 1st inning base on balls is next highest. He's also allowed the most 1st inning hits as well. He is also 2nd in 1st inning home runs.

 

I wonder if being a closer would toughen up Kerry mentally so he would cut down those 1st inning walks and hits?

 

It might be better to look at rates and averages rather than BB totals as there are more PA in the early innings.

 

Yeah, the 3rd and 6th are statistically his worst innings. 1st is pretty much middle of the road.

[FergieJ31]

His WHIP per inning does show the classic power pitcher slight downard trajectory, highest WHIP in the 1st and 3rd, decreasing to a shade above 1 in the last three innings (a regrettably smaller sample size out there in 7-9 of course).

[Bull]

So aside from the 3rd inning, which I think Gooney quoted earlier, Kerry's 1st inning base on balls is next highest. He's also allowed the most 1st inning hits as well. He is also 2nd in 1st inning home runs.

 

I wonder if being a closer would toughen up Kerry mentally so he would cut down those 1st inning walks and hits?

 

It might be better to look at rates and averages rather than BB totals as there are more PA in the early innings.

 

Yeah, the 3rd and 6th are statistically his worst innings. 1st is pretty much middle of the road.

 

Even rate stats don't tell the whole story when comparing innings. If he had a bad day he wouldn't be pitching in the seventh inning, so it would skew his first-third inning stats.

 

Add to it that he'd pitch differently knowing he's only counted on for one inning, and first inning starting stats mean very little when seeing how he'd do as a reliever.

[goonys evil twin]

Even rate stats don't tell the whole story when comparing innings. If he had a bad day he wouldn't be pitching in the seventh inning, so it would skew his first-third inning stats.

 

Add to it that he'd pitch differently knowing he's only counted on for one inning, and first inning starting stats mean very little when seeing how he'd do as a reliever.

 

Exactly. Wood's control, in general, is obviously a concern no matter when he pitches. Maybe it's a bigger concern as closer. But his 1st inning stats don't tell us a thing about any problems we should expect.

 

I'd rather have a closer who walks guys as frequently as Wood stuff, but strikes them out and otherwise dominates like him, than Dempster, who walks just as many, but doesn't get the K's and doesn't dominate. Clearly Wood is not Rivera, but it's possible for guys with great stuff to get away with a few too many 9th inning walks and be effective closers.

[Knyption]

I haven't read this whole post but hey..

 

Starters don't show they're best stuff in the first inning.. the good ones start off with a different set of pitches and different sequences and they continually change throughout the game..

 

well the benefit with wood as closer, he don't have to hold back his best stuff till the 2nd time down the order.. he can come out of the gates and let it rip.

[Abe Frohman]

I'll bet Wood will be throwing a LOT more fastballs as a reliever, especially as a closer. I'm thinking that will be better for his arm anyway. Dude has a dirty fastball, and it was obvious that when he was just trying to get outs as a reliever, he was just blowing it by people.

 

I wish it would have worked out for him as a starter, but I can't wait to see what he can do as a reliever (closer).

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Kerry Wood is so talented, he can and will be successful in any pitching role you can conjure up for him. With Kerry, it's always about his health, and always will be.

 

If he's healthy, I guarantee he'll be the Cubs closer by June, because no one on the Chicago Cubs--and in fact, maybe only three or four guys in all of baseball--have the stuff that Kerry Wood has.

 

And don't forget that as a reliever, Wood only needs two pitches, he can reduce future aggravation of the shoulder and elbow by retiring Uncle Charlie (though I'll miss the hook!) once and for all. Fastball, maybe the cut fastball too, and the changeup--that's all Woody will need to succeed.

 

And I want him to succeed. I never warmed up to Prior, I don't think anyone really did. But I have man-love for Kerry Lee Wood. C'mon big guy....

[Soul]

The fact that a starting pitcher takes an inning or two to really settle in has no bearing on what they would do as a reliever.

 

It's two completely different roles, with a completely different approach and mindset.

[FergieJ31]

Kerry Wood is so talented, he can and will be successful in any pitching role you can conjure up for him. With Kerry, it's always about his health, and always will be.

 

If he's healthy, I guarantee he'll be the Cubs closer by June, because no one on the Chicago Cubs--and in fact, maybe only three or four guys in all of baseball--have the stuff that Kerry Wood has.

 

I couldn't agree more. This has been a somewhat depressing off-season, but one of the things I look forward to most next year at Wrigley is seeing Wood come out of the pen late in a game with the Cubs clinging to a slim lead. The crowd will go absolutely nuts when he starts mowing guys down.