An army of Chicago fans is expected to begin crossing the border Thursday for the first Cubs-Brewers series in Milwaukee as the Cubs embark on their longest and perhaps most telling road trip of the year.
Armed with a five-game winning streak, the Cubs start a four-city, 12-game trip that also includes stops in Pittsburgh, Miami and Atlanta.
Though the Brewers (43-42 and on a five-game losing streak), Pirates (40-48, 2-8 in their last 10 games) and Marlins (32-55, 26 1/2 games out of first) would figure to be prime pickings for a team with pennant aspirations, there really is no figuring out these streaky Cubs, who swept Atlanta one weekend at Wrigley but went 1-4 against American League dregs Detroit and Kansas City.
After starting the season 8-2, the Cubs went 5-11, 14-5, 1-6, 10-0, 4-14 and 6-1. Overall, they’re 15-21 on the road, coming on the heels of an abysmal 26-55 road record last year. In Jim Riggleman’s 3 1/2 years as manager, the Cubs have a .419 winning percentage on the road.
Because 45 of their 75 second-half games will be on the road, how the Cubs fare this trip may give an indication of whether they will pull a traditional Cubs fade. Though there are many players to watch in the second half, there are four key players on whom the Cubs’ fate may rest.
Can rookie Kerry Wood keep it up for the whole season? He leads the league in opponents’ batting average (.190), opponents’ batting average with runners in scoring position (.159), hits per inning (0.68) and strikeouts per nine innings (13.40). He has been so dominating that a 13-strikeout three-hitter, like his last start against Arizona, isn’t even considered big news any longer.
But eventually Wood will be in unfamiliar territory–September. The reason why Riggleman doesn’t like Wood to pitch too long into games is because he never has pitched more than 152 innings in a season and he doesn’t want to overextend his arm before September.
Wood averaged 5 1/3 innings per start at Class A Daytona in his first full season as a pro in ’96. He averaged five innings per start at Double-A Orlando last year and then 5 2/3 at Triple-A Iowa. In the first half, Wood has averaged 6 1/3 innings per start.
With 93 1/3 innings under his belt, how many innings can Wood throw this year?
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t even know how many I have now. I just try to go out and go as long as I can and keep it close.”
Wood is a big, strong kid. For better or worse, the Cubs are protecting him like he’s their own little Ft. Knox. Maybe they’re right.
Secondly, can former backup Jose Hernandez maintain his fine performance for the whole season?
He heads into the second half with an eight-game hitting streak in which he’s batting .394, and he has come up with several key late-inning hits in the last few weeks. After Hernandez drew three walks in one game in Kansas City, Riggleman told him: “I might have found my leadoff guy for a few days.” It has worked, even though Hernandez is not the quintessential leadoff guy: he’s third in the NL in slugging percentage against left-handers (.677).
Hernandez, with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs–already a career high–is helping Sammy Sosa carry the offensive load.
“Sammy has been doing it for a month already,” Hernandez said. ” `Brownie’ (Brant Brown) is on the DL and we have a lot of people hurt. I have my chances now to play. I’m feeling pretty good at the plate. I have more patience to take pitches. Before, I was hitting seventh and just swinging. When `Brownie’ comes back, I’m sure he’ll be back (at leadoff). But right now, I’m the guy.”
“Jose has given us a huge lift,” Mark Grace said. “When (Kevin) Orie was sent out and he got to play every day, he really responded with home runs, big hits, played a stellar third base. Now that Kevin is back, he’s a very good third baseman, so Jose has no problem going out to the outfield and doing a good job out there. We need his bat in the lineup. He’s not a leadoff man, but he’s doing a decent job. He has been absolutely invaluable.”
Now, can either Mark Clark or Steve Trachsel pitch to form?
Clark will be a free agent after the season and must pick it up if he hopes to find someone who not only will pay him $5 million, like the Cubs do, but offer him a long-term deal. He’s 4-8 with a 4.98 earned-run average, and he’s third-worst in the league in hits allowed per nine innings (11.6). The Cubs know he’s better than he has shown thus far, but his ineffectiveness over the long haul has hurt the rotation.
Trachsel looked like an All-Star in April and May but fell apart in June. He won his last start against Arizona to go to 7-5 but has yet to prove he’s back to his ’96 form, when he earned a spot on the All-Star team.
“We need Trachsel to get back on track and start pitching like we know he can,” Grace said. “If we’re going to make a run at Houston, we’re going to need all these guys to start pitching like we know they can.”
