Wood and Prior aren’t the solution for the Cubs
Dan Mohrmann & Justin Shaw
Normally the return of a pitcher of Mark Prior’s stature would boost a baseball team into a winning streak and a possible appearance. But the Chicago Cubs are not a normal team. Ever since Steve Bartman reached over the leftfield rail and began the downward spiral for the “Lovable Losers” things haven’t been too great for the Northsiders.
No matter what the Cubs try to do to win games and more importantly, win that elusive World Series, they come up short and never seem to put all the pieces together. Things have only gotten worse since 2003 and the Billy Goat Curse has since been overshadowed by the Curse of Bartman.
Since that game, Prior and teammate Kerry Wood—the two “saviors” of the Cubs—have yet to have a healthy or productive season. While each has had a fair share of solid starts in between stints on the disabled list, neither has regained the dominant form that had Cubs fans ready to celebrate a World Series title.
From 2003 to 2005, Wood pitched in only 75 games and won only 25 of his 49 decisions. These are numbers being produced by a player that was supposed to win 20 games every year of his career and was tapped as the next Roger Clemens. In all fairness, the Cub bullpen has been less than stellar during his time with Chicago. One cannot expect the bullpen to hold on to a lead when Kyle Farnsworth and Joe Borowski are the most notable names in the pen.
When Wood was brought up to the Cubs he did not get the hype that one would expect. He didn’t garner a Sportscenter mention until May 6, 1998 when he struck out 20 Houston Astros in a single game, which tied the major league record. The lost hype was saved for May 22, 2002 when Mark Prior made his major league debut.
Prior was supposed to have a combination of Pedro Martinez’s power and Greg Maddux’s control. His rookie season was impressive and his second year was a career making season. Had Dodger closer Eric Gagne not set the record for most consecutive saves, Prior might have taken the Cy Young Award that season..
Everything seemed to be going great for the Cubs at that point. They found themselves in the National League Championship Series and five outs away from going to the World Series. Then Chicago met Steve Bartman. And since then Mark Prior and Kerry Wood have paid for it.
Even if they return to championship form, this is not the same Cub team that went to the playoffs. The offense is suffering and while Wood and Prior move back and forth from the DL, Carlos Zambrano is the anchor of the pitching staff. That’s not what everyone expected from two of the greatest pitching prospects in major league history.