The “Doomsday Twins”

Ouch!  No that’s not the sound of Wood or Prior getting injured again.  It’s the reaction that a lot of Cubs fans had when they read that senior baseball writer Scott Miller of CBS SportsLine.com recently referred to Prior and Wood as the "Doomsday Twins," referring to their ability to doom the Cubs’ chances of contending because of injuries.  In a piece written five days ago, Miller discusses five things that you need to know about the Cubs.  Although I disagree with Miller on many of his thoughts, Miller was right when he points out that Wood and Prior are no longer the focus of the pitching staff, which those of us in Chicago already knew.  Wood was supposed to be a long reliever and Prior the fifth starter.  Unfortunately, the press keeps focusing on these two guys.  Prior and Wood are obviously sick of it all.  Wood refused to talk to the media last week, referring to it as "the circus".  When the press asked Prior what the next step was after a minor league start, he sarcastically answered "Go home and get some lunch — I don’t know."

They are not the only two that are sick of it.  Sweet Lou is getting tired of the madness also. 

"They played a big role here in the past, and obviously everybody’s concerned," Piniella said. "I’m concerned also. But at the same time, regardless, they’ve got to be able to help you. In Wood’s case, [relieving] is a new role for him. Giving him a little more time than necessary is not a bad idea, as opposed to rushing him."
"There’s one difference this year," Piniella said. "We said that whatever we got from these two fine young men would be a bonus, and we’ve made different preparations. … It’s not like it’s the end of the world if they’re not quite ready for the season."

The reason the Cubs aren’t in a Doomsday situation is because they brought in Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis, and resigned Wade Miller.  They are counting like young guys like Rich Hill, Angel Guzman, and Carlos Marmol to take up a little slack.  The trouble for Cubs fans is that we know how much better a healthy Wood and Prior make this team.  Everytime we see them on the mound, we think "Maybe, maybe they will finally stay healthy."  Personally, I think it would be a lot easier if the Cubs told everyone at the Cubs Convention and everyone at spring training  that Wood and Prior were hurt.  Then, nobody would expect anything.  But the Cubs organization keeps telling us how healthy these guys are, we get our hopes up, and then they get crushed.

Heck, even Lou Pinella fell into the old trap of pretending that everything was ok.  Until this week, Lou said that he felt that Prior still had a shot at the fifth spot in the rotation.  Nobody who has watched Prior pitch this spring would ever think that.  But Lou kept saying it.  Prior, who will start on Thursday, has worked only three innings in Cactus League games.  Same with Wood.  Neither of these guys are ready, so maybe it’s time for everyone to let it go. 

For the first time in four years, I feel confident we can win without them.