The next Gary Scott?

April 1st, 2008 at 10:43am Matt Trowbridge

Kerry Wood just showed why you can’t get too excited about spring training. He looked like the perfect closer with nine straight scoreless appearances. Even more important, he had zero walks during that stretch. Well, he beaned a batter with his very first pitch of the 2008 season and also walked a batter in giving up three runs in one inning of a tie game. It reminded me of rookie third baseman Gary Scott hitting almost .400 in spring training the one year I covered the Cubs from Arizona all the way through September. He then couldn’t get the ball out of the infield in April and became the cursed name of all cursed names for failed Cub phenoms.

Anyway, Wood will rise or fall as a closer on his control. No one wants another Mitch Williams, who walks the bases loaded, then strikes out the side. Those kind of wild tight-rope walkers have a very short shelf life as closers. If Kerry Wood throws strikes, he should be one of the National League’s top four closers. If he doesn’t, the Cubs should move him to the seventh inning, in front of setup man Bobby Howry, with Carlos Marmol as closer. I’d give him no more than two or three weeks to find his control. Chicago has too many other good options — even Howry could close, although I like him better as the setup man — to stick with a shaky closer for long.

Entry Filed under: Relief pitching