Kerry Wood, RHP, Chicago Cubs, 6-5, 190 lbs.
Selected out of a Texas high school in the 1st round of the 1995 June draft, #4 overall, after Darin Erstad, Ben Davis, and Jose Cruz, Jr., Kerry Wood made his long-awaited major-league debut this afternoon in Montreal against the Expos, two months shy of his 20th birthday.
Using almost exclusively fastballs in the mid- to high-90s and big, bending curveballs, Wood displayed his considerable talents, but as expected struggled with his control. Throwing serious heat generated from a smooth delivery and great drive from his legs, Wood naturally evokes comparisons to fellow Texans Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens. He even wears Ryan’s number, 34.
In his debut, Wood struck out two batters in each of the 1st, 2nd, and 4th innings. He punched out Expos’ leadoff hitter Mark Grudzielanek twice, both times swinging; once, in the 1st inning, on a 3-2 fastball about a foot outside, and again, in the 5th, on a 1-2 curve that bounced. He also made Jose Vidro look silly in the 2nd inning on two high fastballs followed by a curve in the dirt.
The hardest hit balls were Brad Fullmer’s single in the 1st and double in the 4th, and fly outs by Shane Andrews in the 2nd and Grudzielanek in the 3rd, both of which were caught just short of the warning track. Lefties appeared to give Wood more trouble than righties, with Fullmer collecting two hits and F.P. Santangelo walking twice and being hit in the 5th inning by an 0-2 breaking pitch that bounced in front of the plate and grazed his leg.
Overall, the Cubs have to be pleased with what they saw this afternoon. Wood came up from Triple-A, showed an excellent major-league fastball and curveball, and displayed good composure. And with a little luck, his final pitching line could have looked better than it did.
Today the Cubs wisely placed Wood on a very strict pitch count. If they continue to exercise caution with the 19-year-old right hander, and if Wood can stay healthy and gain better command of the strike zone, Cubs fans will have plenty to cheer about for years to come whenever this man takes the mound.
Update: 4/18/98
After Wood’s major league debut against the Montreal Expos, Cubs pitching coach Phil Regan made some adjustments to the young right-hander’s delivery to keep him from throwing across his body and to keep him on top of his curveball. This afternoon against a better hitting Los Angeles Dodgers ballclub, Wood made his Wrigley Field debut with impressive results.
Again relying almost exclusively on fastballs and curveballs, Wood worked 5 scoreless innings against the Dodgers. He struck out Dodger All-Star catcher Mike Piazza on breaking pitches twice, once swinging and once looking. He also made Todd Zeile look helpless in the 4th inning, getting the veteran third baseman to wave at two curveballs before freezing him with a 97-MPH fastball over the inside corner.
Wood’s pitches had good movement, the fastball tailing back in on right-handers. At one point, during the 2nd and 3rd innings he threw 23 consecutive fastballs, only one of which — a line single to left by Dodger rookie Paul Konerko — was hit with any kind of authority.
Because of the movement on his pitches and because he strikes so many hitters out, Wood is going to work deep into the count a lot of the time, and for now his biggest challenge will be to make it through the 5th inning of any given game so he can qualify for the victory.
Except for the results, the numbers from Wood’s second major league start are very similar to those of his first start.
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