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Chicago Cubs, Travis Wood begin road trip vs Colorado Rockies

By David Miniel

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After splitting the opening series 1-1 with the St. Louis Cardinals, it’s time for the Chicago Cubs to hit the road for the very first time this season – starting with the red-hot Colorado Rockies.

Taking the mound for the Cubs this afternoon will be veteran southpaw Travis Wood. Wood (0-0, 0.00 ERA) was once a solid member of this starting rotation a couple of years ago before struggling during the 2014 campaign.

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Coming off his worst season yet as a major league pitcher , Wood picked up 31 starts last year – allowing 97 earned runs on 190 hits, 146/76 K/BB ratio, 1.53 WHIP, while giving up 20 home runs in 173 2/3 innings of work.

He entered training camp as a wild card for the fifth and final spot in this rotation that features a two-time World Series champion in Jon Lester.

Spring Training wasn’t all-that great for Wood, but he somehow managed to win the battle for the final spot. This resulted in Edwin Jackson being placed in the bullpen to start off the year.

He finished Cactus League play with a somewhat shaky 4.87 ERA, 14/3 K/BB ratio, 11 earned runs through 20 1/3 frames and also hit a home run himself against the Arizona Diamondbacks near the end of the March. Speaking of which, the lack of runs during the first couple games of the season needs to pick up in what will prove to be a tough early weekend road trip.

Chicago’s going to need their bats to come alive if they have any hopes of winning a game this weekend. Both Starlin Castro and Miguel Montero are the only Cubs’ hitters with an RBI under their belt.

While the Cubs (1-1) have only scored two-runs in as many games, the Rockies (3-0) have scored a total of 20-runs in the first three games of the year against the Milwaukee Brewers. As of right now, left fielder Corey Dickerson leads the Rockies in RBI with six, and home runs with two – one ahead of Nolan Arenado, Carlos Gonzalez, and Wilin Rosario.

Starting for the Rockies will be young left-handed pitcher Tyler Matzek. Matzek (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is coming off a mediocre rookie campaign in which he picked up 19 starts and recorded his first career complete game and shutout.

In those 19 starts with the big league club, Matzek worked 117 2/3 innings with a 91/44 K/BB ratio, 53 earned runs, 120 hits, 1.39 WHIP while posting a 4.05 ERA.

Today’s contest will be aired live on WGN and broadcast on WBBM 780 with the first pitch scheduled for 3:10 pm central time.

Now here’s a look at the starting lineup for both teams:

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