Jon

Haha. Colbert just ripped Ronaldo a new one.

MiLB.com has Petrick down for 3.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, HBP, 4-1 GO-FO Pretty decent return for Petrick. And like last year, BoiseHawks.com archives the video of all of the home games.

Chad Fox says hi. Completely false. Your completely false. YOU'RE A TOWEL! Haha you beat me to the towel comeback. [deleted] Please refrain from durogatory racial/ethnic terms.

Joseph has an odd stance. He keeps the bat in, low, and moving.

Camp gives the Hawks their first lead of 2006 with a 2-run triple to right-center.

Petrick with 2 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 0 runs through 3 now. Matulia and Joseph have the hits for Boise.

The feed is working. Must be due to my email. Petrick has given up a pair of hits so far. He's on the mound in the third.

Well, looks like no Petrick for us tonight.

Huzzah! Dusty does something rational!

Please rain now.

Poor Ricky. EDIT: 3-4 after the infield single

Same for me, but it's still 25 minutes until gametime.

Any updates on Wood's towel throwing? He's probably just going to keep throwing that towel all over the place until the used car market picks up and he can find a new job. I thought he was enjoying his time on the DL and isn't looking to work. Alot if not every pitcher uses the towel drill to work on mechanics. The drill works on extension the more extension the more velocity you will have. The towel drill is a good off-season exercise to keep your mechanics in line. The towel drill is widely credited to Tom House. I can't recall ever seeing another major league pitcher use it. Those kinds of drills are rare in the majors. The only other time I've seen it was during the WBC. Some of the Cuban pitchers did it prior to warming up in the bullpen. But nobody else on the Cubs does it.

There's already an active thread on Wood: Premium/Non-Premium

The Ivory Coast is about 8 minutes away from their first victory.

If for some reason anyone out there is going to be watching this thing from beginning to end, please let us know how Z's 4-seamer looks early on and how often he throws it.

4-year contracts for everyone!

Any updates on Wood's towel throwing? He's probably just going to keep throwing that towel all over the place until the used car market picks up and he can find a new job. I thought he was enjoying his time on the DL and isn't looking to work.

Actually, Smoltz was injured all of 2000, came back in the reliever role in 2001 at exactly the same point of impending free agency, re-signed with his old team, and had 3 great years as closer following his one year bullpen exposure, and later was able to go back to starting. The 5 year older argument actually seems more to Wood's benefit than against. As for need, I'd suggest that if he could be as dominant as he was in relief in 2005, Dempster could always be supplanted. The only question is whether this braintrust could figure out how to get him transitioned over. Lastly, it seems clear to me that this insistence on throwing 60+ (let alone 100+ needed for an effective starter) pitches per outing has proven beyond a doubt to be harmful to him, at least at this stage. Again, there is an easy way to get him converted, and is the only way I see for him to have any hope of saving his career for himself and hopefully as a Cub. But it hasn't proven harmful. He's still in the midst of building up arm strength and there's no indication that he's done any damage to his shoulder in the process. There hasn't been anything to determine that he can't build up his arm strength. He hasn't really gone backwards at this point, he's just not moving forwards. But prior to this, he was (albeit slower than you'd want) building up arm strength. A move to the bullpen would essentially be taking him out of this rehab process and prematurely conceding that he can't start. There's no place for him in the bullpen (rather, we need room for Wuertz) and they're not playing for anything. He needs to focus on building up arm strength and not getting guys out. Let him fully rehab from this and see where he is then. There's still a lot of time left in the season.

It's worth noting that the Sun-Times article said nothing that wasn't already reported and only loosely speculated that there's a possibility that he could be done for the season.

Well, I laid out my reasons how it would be quite beneficial to all concerned. Smoltz gained a lot from his switch, as did his team. I have no illusions that the Cubs would be as savvy as the Braves, but it could certainly work. Hey, I was Kerry's biggest defender on other Cubs' message boards back in the day. If I thought for one minute he could get back to his 2003 form and keep it, I'd be just as adamant that he follow that course. But, after watching him throw about 8-10 MPH slower now just to preserve his arm for 80+ pitches, I have serious doubts he'll ever get back there, at least not for a while, and slowly building back in the bullpen has worked for other starters. I'm sure we'll continue to disagree, and I'm sure the Cubs will follow the worst possible path that will either get him hurt again or will get him primed to have a great career somewhere else. The difference being, though, that Smoltz was about five years older, under contract (I believe), and the Braves had a need for it. Wood still needs to gain the remaining 4-5 mph on his fastball during this rehab, But even if the Cubs were looking to re-sign him, it's not going to be as a bullpen pitcher, where there is a real possibility of him overdoing it or being subject to harmful usage patters. Not with three late-inning bullpen pitcher with multi-year deals. So, in my opinion, it would benefit everyone more if Wood can take his time rehabbing this as they're doing (where he can throw in a controlled setting and communicate with Rothschild/O'Neal) and start again later on.

What is there to suggest Wood will make some sort of recovery and pitch regularly/effectively again this season? The silly questions go both ways. I'll go with Wood's track record of not pitching as the basis on the belief he won't be back in any regularly scheduled (ie every fifth or sixth day) appearance the rest of the season. Other pitchers coming back from this surgery, Wood being able to pitch effectively for 3.5 out of the 4 previous seasons before this injury, and progress (while stalled) throughout his minor league rehab assignment. And there's 3.5 months left.

Kerry needs to build up arm strength. He wouldn't be able to properly rehab while coming in for relief. And they really have no need for him in the bullpen. I don't see this as true on a couple of fronts. For one, it seems very likely that he simply will never be able to handle the stresses of starting this year, if ever. Second, there are examples where teams used starters out of the pen for a whole year (Matt Morris in 2000) for the exact purpose of slowly building up arm strength. This seems like such a no brainer to me, especially the way his arm responded to the pen last year. It's his only hope of salvaging a career, with the possibility that he could become a dominant pitcher again - just in a different and equally important role. To me, if we can't have the power arm of 1998-2003, he's not worth pursuing any more as he's not going to be a finesse pitcher. The bullpen is the only way. What is there to suggest that he likely won't be able to start this year or for the rest of his career? Irregular usage patterns by a manager who has no idea how to handle a bullpen aren't going to help Wood, nor will pitching out of the bullpen help his next contract. The Cubs don't have a use for him in the bullpen and can much better help him fully rehab on the side and on a minor league rehab assignment. As for the starting part, his performance over the past 2 years seems pretty convincing, as he continually breaks down after a certain threshold of pitches/outings. As for his use in the pen, I agree with the concern of how they'd use him. But in the offseason when I was all for him in the pen for 2006, I laid out a plan where they'd have him on a scheduled inning or two every game that Maddux pitches. Maddux never finishes a game, and the contrast in pitching style would be tough on the opponents. Depending on how the rest of the rotation shakes out, you could do the same for another starter so that he gets regularly scheduled work a couple of days a week, along with endurance-building side sessions. He could start warming up several minutes ahead of time just as he would for a start. I have zero confidence DB or LR would follow such a plan, but it seems doable to me on all fronts - just as the Cards did with Morris. Also, after watching Dempster this year, I see a very valid role for him to work towards if his arm responds to the pen as well as it did last year. I again opine that he has a better future of potential dominance as a closer than as a starter. There is a precedence after all. As for his next contract, he and his agent may view the way you state, but he's also one more injury away from little value as a starter as is. If he wants to remian a Cub, I'd do my best to convince him to take his firebrand attitude to the closer role with the idea that this is the one way he could get his overpowering stuff back, and in a role he could fill on a cold October night. Wood averaged 31 starts between 2001 and 2003. In 2004, he had a bicep injury that kept him out for a while, but that wasn't a "serious" injury. And for the past year, he's been battling a single injury and subsequent surgery. At 29 years of age, it is too soon to say his starting career is over. If you combine the loss of value that comes from switching from a starter to a reliever, the lack of need for another reliever/closer, and his contract status, there isn't much to gain for either the Cubs or for Wood by going to the bullpen.

Kerry needs to build up arm strength. He wouldn't be able to properly rehab while coming in for relief. And they really have no need for him in the bullpen. I don't see this as true on a couple of fronts. For one, it seems very likely that he simply will never be able to handle the stresses of starting this year, if ever. Second, there are examples where teams used starters out of the pen for a whole year (Matt Morris in 2000) for the exact purpose of slowly building up arm strength. This seems like such a no brainer to me, especially the way his arm responded to the pen last year. It's his only hope of salvaging a career, with the possibility that he could become a dominant pitcher again - just in a different and equally important role. To me, if we can't have the power arm of 1998-2003, he's not worth pursuing any more as he's not going to be a finesse pitcher. The bullpen is the only way. What is there to suggest that he likely won't be able to start this year or for the rest of his career? Irregular usage patterns by a manager who has no idea how to handle a bullpen aren't going to help Wood, nor will pitching out of the bullpen help his next contract. The Cubs don't have a use for him in the bullpen and can much better help him fully rehab on the side and on a minor league rehab assignment.

2-4 tonight with a single to right and a 2-run HR off of Willis. He had a .518 OPS against lefties coming into the game.