Chicago Cubs: Travis Wood moves to bullpen; Wada to join rotation?

Wood is out, will Wada be in?

The Chicago Cubs manager

will always leave you guessing, so when

made an appearance out of the bullpen in the Cubs victory on Saturday, no one could be real sure of what to make of it. But now we know that Wood’s move is permanent–at least for now–as he’s been removed from the starting rotation per

Bruce Miles

.

Wood, an All-Star in 2012, hasn’t been able to find that same form in the past two season’s, and now it’s cost him his starter spot. The move can clearly be considered a demotion, but the veteran lefty can be a huge addition to a bullpen that frankly has been terrible in the middle innings. And fellow lefty relievers Phil Coke and Zac Rosscup have seen a heavy workload, so he could be helpful to the pen in just that regard.

After an 8-13 season last year with a 5.03 ERA, this season looked to be off to a better start for Wood. After posting a 3.04 ERA in four April starts, the wheels came off for him in May to the tune of a 10.13 ERA in just 13 1/3 innings. While struggling with allowing the long ball, Wood has seen his pitch count reach high-levels early in games, and failing to get past the fifth is detrimental to a team with an unstable group in middle relief. His move can help stabilize that area, but what comes of the open rotation spot?

While there’s no official word, veteran lefty Tsuyoshi Wada seems the obvious choice. Wada impressed the Cubs enough down the stretch last season that her earned a one-year, $4 million deal this offseason. But a groin injury slowed him out of Spring Training, as he was expected to compete with Wood among others for the final rotation spot. His last start coincided with Wood’s, so he would be right on schedule for his next start should he be called up.

The Cubs aren’t expected to make an announcement till Sunday at the earliest, but it would be difficult to see them doing anything much different with the available arms that they have. Edwin Jackson has been effective out of the pen, but his time has likely come and gone as a starter, at least for the Cubs.

None of the younger arms in the system are ready, and Wada is–plus he’s already on the 40-man so there’s no issues there. The move of Wood to the bullpen will now shift the focus to Kyle Hendricks, who has improved but is still struggling to find the rhythm he has last season in his rookie campaign.

If things continue as they have, and the Cubs remain in the hunt for the NL Central, it’s hard to think they won’t pull thee trigger on a deal for a starting pitcher–and not necessarily the Phillies’ Cole Hamels. The possibility is still out there for a deal with the Mets as well as was discussed while they were in town.

Spots one through three have been as good as they get with Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Jason Hammel. Now the Cubs just need to figure out the last two and they could find themselves in good shape moving forward. 

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