What's up with Wuertz?

[Banedon]

Hasn't pitched in 10 days now. Is there a minor injury that they're covering? Why would Lou let a guy stagnate on the bench this long? Don't you have to use him in an unimportant situation now to let him get the rust off?

[MPC]

a by product of having a 13 man pitching staff.

[Derwood]

a by product of having a 13 man pitching staff.

 

and the Cubs front office having it out for the guy. Wuertz, Hill, Pie, Murton....quite a list they have going

[E.J.]

He was warming up yesterday to come into the game, so I don't think there's any injury. It's just the result of having way too many pitchers on the team and not using them. Instead, we get to see Marmol pitch every day.

[rawaction]

And this coming while he has a stretch of giving up 2 ERs in 16 2/3 innings in 17 outings. Admittedly, he didn't look that good when he was being thrown out there. His last 8 appearances, he gave up 7 hits and 6 BBs over 5 1/3, good for a WHIP over 2.4.

[Jon]

I still don't know why Dempster needed a complete game.

[rawaction]

I still don't know why Dempster needed a complete game.

 

He didn't. Didn't really need to come out in the 8th. I will say though, if he had gotten that call on Corky Miller and gotten the K instead of the HR, I wouldn't have minded him going for the CG shutout. That also would have saved him several pitches.

[Mizzou]

a by product of having a 13 man pitching staff.

 

and the Cubs front office having it out for the guy. Wuertz, Hill, Pie, Murton....quite a list they have going

What has the front office said/done to make you think they have it out for Michael Wuertz?

[Derwood]

a by product of having a 13 man pitching staff.

 

and the Cubs front office having it out for the guy. Wuertz, Hill, Pie, Murton....quite a list they have going

What has the front office said/done to make you think they have it out for Michael Wuertz?

 

burying him in AAA a couple years back for one

[Donzo1679666396]

a by product of having a 13 man pitching staff.

 

and the Cubs front office having it out for the guy. Wuertz, Hill, Pie, Murton....quite a list they have going

What has the front office said/done to make you think they have it out for Michael Wuertz?

 

burying him in AAA a couple years back for one

 

When did that happen?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

a by product of having a 13 man pitching staff.

 

and the Cubs front office having it out for the guy. Wuertz, Hill, Pie, Murton....quite a list they have going

What has the front office said/done to make you think they have it out for Michael Wuertz?

 

burying him in AAA a couple years back for one

 

When did that happen?

 

2006

 

I don't think the front office has it out for Wuertz, but I don't think Lou is particularly fond of him. He seems to have a pretty quick hook with him, moreso than the rest of the non-Marmol/Wood relievers.

[Derwood]

a by product of having a 13 man pitching staff.

 

and the Cubs front office having it out for the guy. Wuertz, Hill, Pie, Murton....quite a list they have going

What has the front office said/done to make you think they have it out for Michael Wuertz?

 

burying him in AAA a couple years back for one

 

When did that happen?

 

after going 6-2 with a 3.80ish ERA in 2005, Wuertz started 2006 in AAA for no explicable reason

[CuseCubFan69]

a by product of having a 13 man pitching staff.

 

and the Cubs front office having it out for the guy. Wuertz, Hill, Pie, Murton....quite a list they have going

What has the front office said/done to make you think they have it out for Michael Wuertz?

 

burying him in AAA a couple years back for one

 

When did that happen?

 

2006

 

I don't think the front office has it out for Wuertz, but I don't think Lou is particularly fond of him. He seems to have a pretty quick hook with him, moreso than the rest of the non-Marmol/Wood relievers.

 

I think Lou doesn't really have patience for pitchers that don't throw the ball over the plate consistently.

[Donzo1679666396]

I wonder what Wuertz did in Spring training of 06, and what rh relievers the Cubs had to open 06? I remember him pitching for the cubs in 06, so i don't think he was buried at AAA.

 

Anyway, that was before Piniella, so i don't see a pattern.... As pointed out, I think Piniella is frustrated with Wuertzes' lack of control.

[Roast]

I wonder what Wuertz did in Spring training of 06, and what rh relievers the Cubs had to open 06? I remember him pitching for the cubs in 06, so i don't think he was buried at AAA.

 

Anyway, that was before Piniella, so i don't see a pattern.... As pointed out, I think Piniella is frustrated with Wuertzes' lack of control.

 

Year Ag Tm  Lg  W   L   G   GS  CG SHO  GF SV   IP     H    R   ER   HR  BB   SO  HBP  WP  BFP  IBB  BK  ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+

2005 26 CHC NL   6   2  75   0   0   0  12  0   75.7   60   36   32   6   40   89   0   7   319   7   0  3.81  4.40  116 1.322
2006 27 CHC NL   3   1  41   0   0   0   4  0   40.7   35   14   12   5   16   42   1   1   175   2   0  2.66  4.63  174 1.254

As you can see, after pitching in 75 games in 2005 and putting up respectable numbers, his appearances were cut nearly in half the following year.

 

Here's a better look. Wuertz appeared in all of FOUR games the first half of the season:

 

I Split         G  GS GF  W  L  S CG SHO   IP    ERA   H   R   ER HR  BB IBB  SO HBP
+-+------------+---+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+-----+------+---+---+---+--+---+---+---+---+
  1st Half       4  0  0  0  0  0  0   0   3.2   9.82   8   4   4  2   3   0   4   0 
  2nd Half      37  0  4  3  1  0  0   0  37     1.95  27  10   8  3  13   2  38   1 

 

 

Oh, and here are his numbers from AAA that season:

 

Pos Player                Age  W   L   W-L%   G   GS  CG SHO  GF  SV   IP     H    R   ER   HR  BB   SO  HBP  WP  BFP  IBB  BK   ERA   WHIP
+---+--------------------+----+---+---+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+------+-----+
 RP Michael Wuertz         27                 30   0   0   0  24  10   42     30   10    8   2    9   67   1   3   168       0   1.71  0.93 

 

So he pitched in 30 games in the minors that year compared to 41 in the majors. So yeah, he was stashed in the minors for a good portion of the year.

[Roast]

Oh, and just for kicks and giggles, here are the first few games of his gamelog in 2006

 

CarGm TmG Date       Opp DR GmReslt Pitcher Result  IP   H  R ER BB SO HR   ERA  BF Pit Str StC StS StL GB FB LD ?? GmSc IR IS SB CS Pk AB 2B 3B IW HB SH SF RE DP  WPA   LevI
+-----+---+---------+----+--+-------+--------------+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+------+--+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+----+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+
  107   5 Apr  9     STL  - W  8-4   5-5            0.2  2  0  0  0  1  0   0.00  4  22  13   9   2   2  3  0  0  0       3  2  0  0  0  4  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0   -7%  3.05 
  108   6 Apr 11     CIN  1 L  2-9   6-7            2    0  0  0  1  2  0   0.00  7  28  18   8   7   3  4  0  0  0       0  0  0  0  0  6  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    0%  0.01 
  109   9 Apr 14    @PIT  2 W 11-6   6-6            0    3  2  2  0  0  2   6.75  3  15   8   4   0   4  1  2  0  0       1  1  0  0  0  3  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  -24%  1.17 
  110  44 May 22    @FLA 37 L  1-9   4-5            1    3  2  2  2  1  0   9.82  8  46  27  17   7   3  4  0  1  0       2  2  2  0  0  6  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0   -3%  0.15 
  111  97 Jul 23    @WSN 61 L  1-7   6-7            2    1  2  0  1  3  0   6.35  9  31  21   6   6   9  4  1  0  0       0  0  1  0  0  7  0  0  0  0  1  0  1  0   -1%  0.14 

 

As you can see, he pitched on april 9, 11, and 14th and then was not heard from again until mid May. Then he went right back down to the minors before coming back up and sticking with the team on July 23rd.

 

Actually, this illustrates the short leash they've had with him pretty well. He had two good games to start the year, then after ONE bad outing on april 14th he was sent back to the minors. He came up in mid may, was poor in his only outing, and then was not seen or heard from again until June.

[imb]

as you can see all of these numbers are jumbled up and you can't tell a damn thing because i don't know how to use /code correctly

[Little Slide Rooter]

I think that Wuertz is just in Lous doghouse, but after Howrys last few outings, hes going to have to trust him a bit more.

[fromthestretch]

I wonder what Wuertz did in Spring training of 06, and what rh relievers the Cubs had to open 06? I remember him pitching for the cubs in 06, so i don't think he was buried at AAA.

 

Anyway, that was before Piniella, so i don't see a pattern.... As pointed out, I think Piniella is frustrated with Wuertzes' lack of control.

 

Wuertz has never exactly had great control, but he has had a lot of success at the big league level. Considering his age, it's reasonable to think he can still be an effective reliever.

 

The odd thing is that he pitched in five out of six days from 5/29 through 6/3, including four games in a row. He hasn't pitched since 6/3. There's really no reason for Piniella to not use him unless Wuertz is hurt. And if he's hurt bad enough to not pitch for 10 days, put him on the DL. If they continue to use Marmol as frequently as they have, there's a good chance he'll wear down and possibly be less effective later in the year. They need to start relying on others in the pen.

[CubColtPacer]

I wonder what Wuertz did in Spring training of 06, and what rh relievers the Cubs had to open 06? I remember him pitching for the cubs in 06, so i don't think he was buried at AAA.

 

Anyway, that was before Piniella, so i don't see a pattern.... As pointed out, I think Piniella is frustrated with Wuertzes' lack of control.

 

Wuertz has never exactly had great control, but he has had a lot of success at the big league level. Considering his age, it's reasonable to think he can still be an effective reliever.

 

The odd thing is that he pitched in five out of six days from 5/29 through 6/3, including four games in a row. He hasn't pitched since 6/3. There's really no reason for Piniella to not use him unless Wuertz is hurt. And if he's hurt bad enough to not pitch for 10 days, put him on the DL. If they continue to use Marmol as frequently as they have, there's a good chance he'll wear down and possibly be less effective later in the year. They need to start relying on others in the pen.

 

Not to mention Wood, who slowly is catching Marmol.

 

It's pretty obvious that Lou is trying to use Marmol for less time though, which is why 4 out of his last 5 innings he has pitched to 2 batters or less. In the previous 2 months before this stretch, he had exactly 1 outing of less than an inning.

 

Hopefully they can work Wuertz back in to further that process. I still doubt that any reliever gets more than 92 innings in the regular season, but I'd like to push that down even a little further.

[Soul]

as you can see all of these numbers are jumbled up and you can't tell a damn thing because i don't know how to use /code correctly

 

freaking IMB.