Notes: Wood's Sim Game a Success

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06/08/2005 2:53 PM ET
Notes: Sim game a success for Wood
Dealing with an ace; Burnitz gets a breather
By Kelly Thesier / MLB.com

CHICAGO -- Sitting on the bench in the Cubs dugout, Kerry Wood wiped the beads of sweat that were dripping off his face as he rested between innings.

No, this wasn't a shockingly quick return of Wood to the Cubs lineup, but it's as close as he has been to starting a game in a while as he threw a simulated game on Wednesday morning.

Wood has battled a right shoulder strain that was aggravated when he left the mound after three innings in his start on April 30. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 3.

The simulation lasted three innings with Wood throwing about 45 pitches. No official stats are taken during such games, but it appeared Wood gave up three hits and struck out two while facing teammates Jose Macias and Enrique Wilson.

After the session, Wood felt he had made progress and said that the little things he has been working on in his side throws were starting to show.

"I felt pretty good," Wood said of his session. "I was trying to take what I've been working on the side and use it with hitters in there. I threw a few more pitches than I wanted to throw in three innings, but I felt great. My slider was good, changeup was good and the ball was jumping, so I can't complain."

Watching Wood throw and talking with him during his rest time between innings helped manager Dusty Baker get a better feel of where his pitcher is at, but Baker felt he got the best news after talking to Macias and Wilson.

"I talked to the hitters for a good barometer on how he was throwing, and they said he was throwing excellent," Baker said.

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild was also pleased with what he saw from Wood, and said that the improvements he has seen Wood make in his mechanics are showing in his side sessions and again in the game.

"Today, overall, and his sides -- particularly the side in San Diego -- is as good as I've seen him," Rothschild said. "I thought he did well today. The biggest thing is how he feels tomorrow, and more importantly, how he feels the next couple days."

The next step for Wood will be to see how he feels over the next couple days. Whether Wood will stick around to throw another simulated game or be sent off on his first rehabilitation assignment will depend on if there is any pain or discomfort in the shoulder, which he had none of on Wednesday.

Even without any pain in the shoulder and feeling like he's getting better control of his pitches with hitters, Wood wasn't in any hurry to rush a decision about returning.

"We haven't jumped ahead since we started this thing so we're not going to now," Wood said when asked to predict when he'll make his first rehab start. "We'll go by how I feel tomorrow and the next day, and then talk about it."

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One of the best: The Cubs have lost two straight at home to the Blue Jays and it didn't get any easier in Wednesday's finale.

Chicago faced one of the best pitchers in the American League, Roy Halladay, for the first time.

Baker said that he hoped his young pitching staff would learn a lot from watching the former American League Cy Young Award winner pitch.

"What I've noticed is that he's leading the league in complete games and averaging under 100 pitches during his games," Baker said. "Maybe we can pay attention, especially some of the younger guys, on how to minimize your pitches."

While Baker may have his pitchers paying close attention to Halladay's pitching style, he still hoped that his hitters wouldn't make it too good of a lesson, and get Halladay's pitch count up early.

"He's a pitcher that you have to get to early on in the game," Baker said. "We have our hands full, but we usually rise to the competition."

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Day of rest: The lineup for the Cubs looked a little different on Wednesday with Todd Hollandsworth getting the nod in right field for Jeromy Burnitz.

It is the first game that Burnitz had off in a stretch in which club has played 20 in a row. Baker felt that having Wednesday off with an off-day on Thursday would give Burnitz enough time to be refreshed for the club's three-game home series with the Red Sox this weekend.

"He isn't old, but not a spring chicken either," Baker said with a laugh. "I could see he's wearing down a bit and so he'll have two days now to rest."

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Prior alert: For the third straight day, Mark Prior was able to toss the ball around before the game.

Although Rothschild wasn't able to watch Prior throw as he prepared for Wood's simulated game, he said that he has been pleased with Prior's progress so far despite the pitcher still having tenderness on the site of his fractured elbow.

"We'll just take it as we can and as the soreness leaves, we'll accelerate the program, which, hopefully, will be in the next few days," Rothschild said.

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All-Stars abound: The Cubs will have to wait a few more weeks to learn if any of their stars have earned a trip to the All-Star Game, but the organization is already racking up the honors in the Minors.

The Florida State League All-Star Game will take place on June 17, and five of the Daytona Cubs (High-A) were selected to attend. Right-hander Carlos Marmol, lefty Sean Marshall, righty Randy Wells, outfielder Chris Walker and designated hitter Scott Moore were chosen for the Eastern Division squad.

The Peoria Chiefs had similar success in All-Star selections for the Midwest League (Low-A). Six Chiefs earned the honor to attend, including second baseman Eric Patterson, the younger brother of Cubs' outfielder Corey Patterson. The other five players selected were first baseman Alberto Garcia, outfielder Ryan Harvey, right-hander Sean Gallagher, lefty Chris Shaver and righty Matthew Weber.

The Chiefs host the Midwest League Summer All-Star Classic on June 21, at O'Brien Field.

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On deck: The Cubs get a day of rest on Thursday before gearing up to face the defending World Series champions, the Boston Red Sox, for a three-game home series starting Friday. Greg Maddux will square off against Bronson Arroyo in Game 1 on Friday afternoon. In his last outing, Maddux picked up his fourth win of the year in the Cubs' 11-5 victory over the Padres.

Kelly Thesier is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Sounds good. It would be nice to have Wood back, and with better mechanics.