He may be the best of both worlds. He may be the staff ace the Cubs have been searching for since Kerry Wood's 20K performance. He may also be the hitting pitcher without the attitude of Carlos Zambrano.
Clearly, this was the best trade the Cubs have made in a long time. Reliever Sean Marshall for Travis Wood.
T. Wood in 2013 has pitched 21 games. His record is 7-7. 2/79 ERA, 1.079 WHIP. The lack of run support has been a key to the Cubs pitching staff not having better records. In 2012, his record was 6-13 in 26 GP, 4.27 ERA and 1.191 WHIP. In 47 games for the Cubs, Wood is 13-20.
Kerry Wood's first two years are slightly different. In 1998, he went 13-6, 3.40 ERA and 1.212 WHIP in 26 games. He did not pitch the next season due to injury. In 2000, he went 8-7, 4.80 ERA, 1.453 WHIP in 23 GP. In his first 49 games for the Cubs, K. Wood was 21-13, but on a better ball club.
T. Wood's batting far exceeds the majority of the regulars in the line up. In 2013, he is hitting .293 BA, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB.
In contrast, Zambrano in 12 seasons hit 24 HR, 71 RBI and had a .238 BA. His best Cub homer year was in 2006 when he hit 6, with 11 RBI but a low .151 BA. In 2008 he had his best overall year at the plate, 4 HR, 14 RBI. 337 BA.
People tend to gravitate towards Jeff Samardzija or Matt Garza as an "ace" pitcher because they throw harder. But the speed of a fastball is only one element to a quality pitcher. How to pitch is different than just throwing a baseball at 97 mph. Many teams have inquired about T. Wood in trade talks. Since it is hard to develop starting pitchers, the Cubs should keep T. Wood and build the staff around him.
