Cubs ace Kerry Wood is expected to miss his next scheduled start because of tendinitis, but tests Wednesday found no tears in the All-Star’s triceps.
Wood (3-3 with a 2.82 ERA) left Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers after two innings as a precaution after feeling tightness in his right triceps muscle. He was examined Wednesday, and an MRI exam showed inflammation underneath the muscle and mild tendinitis in his elbow.
“It could have been a whole lot worse. We were very pleased with the news we got. I was just praying last night and this morning that he was OK,” Cubs Manager Dusty Baker said.
“At first, we thought it was going to be a chip or a spur, and it was nothing–just inflammation. So that’s very positive.”
Wood missed the last month of the 1998 season with a sprained elbow but returned to pitch one game in the NLDS against Atlanta. The following March an MRI revealed Wood had torn the ulnar collateral ligament, and surgery forced him to miss the 1999 season.
Baker said left-hander Glendon Rusch is likely to take Wood’s start Sunday in San Diego, and the rest of the bullpen should be ready to go because Monday’s off-day will allow Baker to empty it out.
Will the triceps injury lead to lower pitch counts for Wood in the future?
“It depends on how he feels,” Baker said. “If you haven’t noticed, we always monitor his pitch count. A lot of that depends on how high Woody gets [the count] up there in the early to middle innings.”
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Supporting cast
A look at the Cubs’ schedule until the projected return of Mark Prior in early June doesn’t seem to offer a whole lot of easy wins beyond Pittsburgh (no offense, Pirates fans). Here’s the career stats of the remaining four starters vs. the remaining opponents for the month of May.
Matt Clement
’04 rec. 5-2
VS. / ERA / W-L / IP
Hou 6.71 3-5 52.1
Pit 4.53 7-6 105.1
StL 4.59 1-3 49.0
SD 2.50 1-1 18.0
Carlos Zambrano
’04 rec. 3-1
VS. / ERA / W-L / IP
Hou 2.72 4-2 49.2
LA 5.00 0-1 9.0
Pit 4.68 2-2 32.2
StL 3.32 0-3 40.2
SF 3.60 1-0 10.0
Greg Maddux
’04 rec. 2-3
VS. / ERA / W-L / IP
Pit 2.56 21-14 295.1
StL 2.52 21-16 332.1
SD 2.99 21-14 268.0
SF 2.91 23-14 266.0
Sergio Mitre
’04 rec. 1-2
VS. / ERA / W-L / IP
Pit 0.00 1-0 11.0
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The rotation ahead
With only three days off between now and the end of the month, there will be little rest for the four remaining starters. If the Cubs go with four, here’s how the rotation matches up for the rest of May:
Date / Opp. / Time / Pitcher
Thursday at LA 2:10 p.m. Zambrano
Friday at SD 9:05 p.m. Maddux
Saturday at SD 9:05 p.m. Mitre
Sunday at SD 3:05 p.m. Clement
Tuesday SF 7:05 p.m. Zambrano
Wednesday SF 6:05 p.m. Maddux
Thursday, Mat 20, SF 1:20 p.m. Mitre
Friday, May 21, StL 2:20 p.m. Clement
Saturday, May 22, StL 12:15 p.m. Zambrano
Sunday, Mat 23, StL 7:05 p.m. Maddux
Tuesday, May 25, at Hou. 7:05 p.m. Mitre
Wednesday, Mat 26, at Hou. 7:05 p.m. Clement
Friday, Mat 28, at Pitt. 4:05 p.m. Zambrano
Friday, May 28, at Pitt. 7:35 p.m. Maddux
Saturday, May 29, at Pitt. 6:05 p.m. Mitre
Sunday, May 30, at Pitt. 12:35 p.m. Clement
Monday, May 31, Hou. 3:05 p.m. Zambrano
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Edited by Chris Malcolm (ccmalcolm@tribune.com)
