Preview
Chicago's staff raises bar for 2002 campaign
By Jonathan Mayo
MLB.com
Cubs at a glance
Cubs preview on MLB Radio
Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild
Cubs VP of Player Personnel Jim Hendry
It was surprising enough that the Cubs hung around in the playoff hunt for most of the season in 2001. That they did it almost entirely with pitching may have been the biggest shock of the season.
The rotation consisted of: a workhorse who had never won more than 12 games in one year (Jon Lieber), a one-time ace-in-waiting working back from Tommy John surgery (Kerry Wood), a reclamation project who hadn't thrown more than 130 innings in a season since 1995 (Jason Bere), a 13-year veteran who hadn't had an ERA under 4.50 in three years (Kevin Tapani), and a No. 5 starter whose best years came as a reliever (Julian Tavarez).
The bullpen was a good match for the rag-tag rotation. The closer (Tom Gordon) was returning from elbow surgery and hadn't thrown a pitch in well over a year. His fill-in was a 38-year-old starter (Jeff Fassero) who appeared to be on the back end of his career.
Not exactly the makings of a stellar staff. All it did was set a record with 1,344 strikeouts and finish fourth in the NL with a 4.03 ERA.
This is the staff new pitching coach Larry Rothschild inherited when he was hired during the offseason. Considering what an anomaly last year seemed to be, it would be understandable if Rothschild lowered his expectations a notch or two. Instead, he's raising the bar.
"There's the possibility to go even further than that," Rotshchild said of last year's efforts. "That's the exciting part. There are some young pitchers that have the possibility of stepping forward and hopefully getting better. If they do, hopefully we can play deeper into the season."
One thing Rothschild doesn't care to duplicate is that strikeout record. He's more concerned with teaching his new pupils how to get deeper into games.
"I'd rather set the record for first-pitch, ground-ball outs than I would for strikeouts because that means a lot of guys got a lot of quick outs and pitched deeper into games," Rothschild said. "I don't know if there is such a thing, but I think that would be a better record to have."
First-pitch, ground-ball outs? Doesn't have the same ring to it. It doesn't have a cool symbol, like a 'K.' Everyone knows Nolan Ryan is the strikeout king. No one has any idea who the first-pitch, ground-ball out king is. Crash Davis may have said ground balls are more democratic in Bull Durham, but they're certainly not as "sexy" as strikeouts.
"It might be because you might be playing deep into October, which is what you want," Rothschild said.
Rothschild is fairly confident the Cubs have the tools to accomplish that goal. The key might be how Wood performs another year removed from his surgery. He showed some good signs last year, winning 12 games, but also had his turn skipped six times during the season.
"He's an important part of this staff simply because of his stuff, and now he's got the experience," Rothschild said. "He's been a strikeout pitcher since the day he stepped into the Major Leagues, and obviously, previously to that. Now it's time to start winning games, and he'll do that if he stays healthy.
"He knows how to win and he knows how to pitch. He's got the stuff to do it. It's just a question of keeping him on the field for 220-250 innings. That will be an important part of what we do this year."
Rothschild sees good things in the rest of the rotation as well.
About Jon Lieber, he said: "With Jon, you're going to get consistency. Last year, things just happened to work out where he won 20 games because of the way he goes about it and the way he battles every fifth day when he's out on the mound for you. If he doesn't win 20, he's going to be somewhere between 15 and 20, consistently give you good starts and pitch you late into games and have quick ballgames."
On Jason Bere: "[He's] been consistent and seems to be past his arm problems. I think there's more there for him now. He's gone through being a real power pitcher, a high fastball pitcher, to having to learn how to pitch a little bit and get the ball down, get ahead and use the other pitches. Now he's getting some of his strength back consistently. I think you can look for him to take another step and become better than a .500 pitcher. He's certainly capable of that."
Rothschild was especially excited about working with Juan Cruz, the 23-year-old prospect who came up late last year and impressed everyone in the organization.
"He's a little bit of an unknown because he hasn't pitched the innings in the Major Leagues, but he's capable of winning games," Rothschild said. "In today's world, you have to have those [young pitchers]. Simply, they're price-effective, cost-effective for you. You have to get quality out of those types of guys for a team like the Cubs, for us to win, when you're not spending $120 million on a payroll."
Rothschild also thinks he'll be able to get more out of the pen, with Gordon, like Wood and Bere, another year away from his elbow injury. He believes his closer will be able to stay healthy for the entire season.
"I would hope so," Rothschild said. "We have to be cognizant that it may not be that way and know what direction to head in if he's not, but I expect him to be healthy.
"He had tendinitis at the end of last year, and that's to be expected. He was out there quite a bit last year. He'll be watched very closely, but this is the year. He should be back where we want him to be."
Rothschild is back where he wants to be, too. After three-plus years of managing the struggling Devil Rays, Rothschild is back working with his first love, pitchers. He knows working closely with Don Baylor will be important. His predecessor, Oscar Acosta, was very popular with the pitching staff, but reportedly had run-ins with Baylor that may have led to his dismissal.
"Our relationship will be developed as we go," Rothschild said. "We've never sat on the bench together and worked together. I pretty much know what we need to do, and communication is important. Don is a very good person and has been very successful as a manager. I look forward to working with him."
If the relationship works well, the Cubs could be thanking him for helping them play deep into the fall.
Chicago's staff raises bar for 2002 campaign
By Jonathan Mayo
MLB.com
Cubs at a glance
Cubs preview on MLB Radio
Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild
Cubs VP of Player Personnel Jim Hendry
It was surprising enough that the Cubs hung around in the playoff hunt for most of the season in 2001. That they did it almost entirely with pitching may have been the biggest shock of the season.
The rotation consisted of: a workhorse who had never won more than 12 games in one year (Jon Lieber), a one-time ace-in-waiting working back from Tommy John surgery (Kerry Wood), a reclamation project who hadn't thrown more than 130 innings in a season since 1995 (Jason Bere), a 13-year veteran who hadn't had an ERA under 4.50 in three years (Kevin Tapani), and a No. 5 starter whose best years came as a reliever (Julian Tavarez).
The bullpen was a good match for the rag-tag rotation. The closer (Tom Gordon) was returning from elbow surgery and hadn't thrown a pitch in well over a year. His fill-in was a 38-year-old starter (Jeff Fassero) who appeared to be on the back end of his career.
Not exactly the makings of a stellar staff. All it did was set a record with 1,344 strikeouts and finish fourth in the NL with a 4.03 ERA.
This is the staff new pitching coach Larry Rothschild inherited when he was hired during the offseason. Considering what an anomaly last year seemed to be, it would be understandable if Rothschild lowered his expectations a notch or two. Instead, he's raising the bar.
"There's the possibility to go even further than that," Rotshchild said of last year's efforts. "That's the exciting part. There are some young pitchers that have the possibility of stepping forward and hopefully getting better. If they do, hopefully we can play deeper into the season."
One thing Rothschild doesn't care to duplicate is that strikeout record. He's more concerned with teaching his new pupils how to get deeper into games.
"I'd rather set the record for first-pitch, ground-ball outs than I would for strikeouts because that means a lot of guys got a lot of quick outs and pitched deeper into games," Rothschild said. "I don't know if there is such a thing, but I think that would be a better record to have."
First-pitch, ground-ball outs? Doesn't have the same ring to it. It doesn't have a cool symbol, like a 'K.' Everyone knows Nolan Ryan is the strikeout king. No one has any idea who the first-pitch, ground-ball out king is. Crash Davis may have said ground balls are more democratic in Bull Durham, but they're certainly not as "sexy" as strikeouts.
"It might be because you might be playing deep into October, which is what you want," Rothschild said.
Rothschild is fairly confident the Cubs have the tools to accomplish that goal. The key might be how Wood performs another year removed from his surgery. He showed some good signs last year, winning 12 games, but also had his turn skipped six times during the season.
"He's an important part of this staff simply because of his stuff, and now he's got the experience," Rothschild said. "He's been a strikeout pitcher since the day he stepped into the Major Leagues, and obviously, previously to that. Now it's time to start winning games, and he'll do that if he stays healthy.
"He knows how to win and he knows how to pitch. He's got the stuff to do it. It's just a question of keeping him on the field for 220-250 innings. That will be an important part of what we do this year."
Rothschild sees good things in the rest of the rotation as well.
About Jon Lieber, he said: "With Jon, you're going to get consistency. Last year, things just happened to work out where he won 20 games because of the way he goes about it and the way he battles every fifth day when he's out on the mound for you. If he doesn't win 20, he's going to be somewhere between 15 and 20, consistently give you good starts and pitch you late into games and have quick ballgames."
On Jason Bere: "[He's] been consistent and seems to be past his arm problems. I think there's more there for him now. He's gone through being a real power pitcher, a high fastball pitcher, to having to learn how to pitch a little bit and get the ball down, get ahead and use the other pitches. Now he's getting some of his strength back consistently. I think you can look for him to take another step and become better than a .500 pitcher. He's certainly capable of that."
Rothschild was especially excited about working with Juan Cruz, the 23-year-old prospect who came up late last year and impressed everyone in the organization.
"He's a little bit of an unknown because he hasn't pitched the innings in the Major Leagues, but he's capable of winning games," Rothschild said. "In today's world, you have to have those [young pitchers]. Simply, they're price-effective, cost-effective for you. You have to get quality out of those types of guys for a team like the Cubs, for us to win, when you're not spending $120 million on a payroll."
Rothschild also thinks he'll be able to get more out of the pen, with Gordon, like Wood and Bere, another year away from his elbow injury. He believes his closer will be able to stay healthy for the entire season.
"I would hope so," Rothschild said. "We have to be cognizant that it may not be that way and know what direction to head in if he's not, but I expect him to be healthy.
"He had tendinitis at the end of last year, and that's to be expected. He was out there quite a bit last year. He'll be watched very closely, but this is the year. He should be back where we want him to be."
Rothschild is back where he wants to be, too. After three-plus years of managing the struggling Devil Rays, Rothschild is back working with his first love, pitchers. He knows working closely with Don Baylor will be important. His predecessor, Oscar Acosta, was very popular with the pitching staff, but reportedly had run-ins with Baylor that may have led to his dismissal.
"Our relationship will be developed as we go," Rothschild said. "We've never sat on the bench together and worked together. I pretty much know what we need to do, and communication is important. Don is a very good person and has been very successful as a manager. I look forward to working with him."
If the relationship works well, the Cubs could be thanking him for helping them play deep into the fall.
