Baseball Guru
03-19-2002, 11:19 PM
By Bruce Miles Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted on March 19, 2002
MESA, Ariz. - Kerry Wood kept his composure a whole lot better than the Milwaukee Brewers did Monday.
Wood had his roughest outing of the spring in the Cubs' 8-2 loss to the Brewers. He pitched 3 innings and gave up 7 hits and 6 runs. By the end of his outing, he had thrown 73 pitches.
Wood was none too happy with home-plate umpire Tony Randazzo, but it was Brewers manager Davey Lopes who got tossed from the game after Matt Stairs was called out on strikes to end the second inning.
Good umpiring or bad, Wood blamed himself for his problems.
"That's a prime example of what happens when you pitch behind in the count," he said. "You can't get ahead of guys and don't get ahead of guys, and you see what happens.
"The two he (Randazzo) missed were on a 2-0 count (with Alex Sanchez up in the first). The next two were right at the knees, and they were both balls. I guess Davey had a beef, too."
Wood wound up throwing 38 pitches in the first inning, and the walk to Sanchez was costly. Wood struck out Eric Young leading off and then got Geoff Jenkins looking after the Sanchez walk.
Looking for relief: Kyle Farnsworth was a late arrival to the park Monday because he was suffering from flu-like symptoms.
With closer Flash Gordon sidelined long-term because of a shoulder injury, Farnsworth and lefty Jeff Fassero will share closer and setup duties. The Cubs have quantity in camp as far as other relievers, but they're short on experience.
Lefty Donovan Osborne pitched better Monday, throwing 2 scoreless innings, but Courtney Duncan, Scott Chiasson and Carlos Zambrano lack the experience of last year's middle men, Todd Van Poppel and David Weathers.
"To hold a lead and get it where we need to, we're not very experienced," said manager Don Baylor. "That's a problem."
Speaking of Farnsworth, Baylor and pitching coach Larry Rothschild wanted him to be more aggressive in his approach during his last appearance, a 1-inning, 1-hit outing against Oakland last Friday.
"Some guys get in that spring-training frame of mind," Rothschild said. "As a pitching coach, I really don't want to see that. I'd like to see the killer instinct and the attitude he had. His game plan for me is very simple. When you have that kind of stuff, it comes down to getting yourself ready mentally and doing it.
"It's the same question you always ask when a guy hasn't done it."
Roster cuts: The Cubs reduced their active spring-training roster to 39 Monday. They outrighted left-handed reliever Ron Mahay to Class AAA Iowa. Mahay finished last season with the Cubs, but he had a 23.63 ERA this spring.
Third baseman David Kelton was optioned to Class AA West Tenn. Kelton, considered a top prospect, batted .300 with 2 homers and 8 RBI this spring.
The Cubs also sent nonroster outfielder Kimera Bartee back to minor-league camp.
Posted on March 19, 2002
MESA, Ariz. - Kerry Wood kept his composure a whole lot better than the Milwaukee Brewers did Monday.
Wood had his roughest outing of the spring in the Cubs' 8-2 loss to the Brewers. He pitched 3 innings and gave up 7 hits and 6 runs. By the end of his outing, he had thrown 73 pitches.
Wood was none too happy with home-plate umpire Tony Randazzo, but it was Brewers manager Davey Lopes who got tossed from the game after Matt Stairs was called out on strikes to end the second inning.
Good umpiring or bad, Wood blamed himself for his problems.
"That's a prime example of what happens when you pitch behind in the count," he said. "You can't get ahead of guys and don't get ahead of guys, and you see what happens.
"The two he (Randazzo) missed were on a 2-0 count (with Alex Sanchez up in the first). The next two were right at the knees, and they were both balls. I guess Davey had a beef, too."
Wood wound up throwing 38 pitches in the first inning, and the walk to Sanchez was costly. Wood struck out Eric Young leading off and then got Geoff Jenkins looking after the Sanchez walk.
Looking for relief: Kyle Farnsworth was a late arrival to the park Monday because he was suffering from flu-like symptoms.
With closer Flash Gordon sidelined long-term because of a shoulder injury, Farnsworth and lefty Jeff Fassero will share closer and setup duties. The Cubs have quantity in camp as far as other relievers, but they're short on experience.
Lefty Donovan Osborne pitched better Monday, throwing 2 scoreless innings, but Courtney Duncan, Scott Chiasson and Carlos Zambrano lack the experience of last year's middle men, Todd Van Poppel and David Weathers.
"To hold a lead and get it where we need to, we're not very experienced," said manager Don Baylor. "That's a problem."
Speaking of Farnsworth, Baylor and pitching coach Larry Rothschild wanted him to be more aggressive in his approach during his last appearance, a 1-inning, 1-hit outing against Oakland last Friday.
"Some guys get in that spring-training frame of mind," Rothschild said. "As a pitching coach, I really don't want to see that. I'd like to see the killer instinct and the attitude he had. His game plan for me is very simple. When you have that kind of stuff, it comes down to getting yourself ready mentally and doing it.
"It's the same question you always ask when a guy hasn't done it."
Roster cuts: The Cubs reduced their active spring-training roster to 39 Monday. They outrighted left-handed reliever Ron Mahay to Class AAA Iowa. Mahay finished last season with the Cubs, but he had a 23.63 ERA this spring.
Third baseman David Kelton was optioned to Class AA West Tenn. Kelton, considered a top prospect, batted .300 with 2 homers and 8 RBI this spring.
The Cubs also sent nonroster outfielder Kimera Bartee back to minor-league camp.