Chicago Cubs: Evaluating a possible return of Travis Wood

Rocky road

The current Kansas City Royal is not having the same success as he did from his NL days.

In just 24 appearances out of the Royals bullpen, he has allowed the same amount as earned runs as he did for the Cubs last season (20).

Wood’s walked 18 batters, only allowing 24 all of last season, and features a disastrous 1.84 WHIP and 6.51 ERA. In fact, Wood’s BB/9 (5.86) and BB percentage (13.9 percent) are uncharacteristically high for him.

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His 2016 totals were in line with his career averages, at 3.54 and 9.5 percent respectively.

It’s early, and it’s also a new league that always factors into consideration. But with the Cubs searching for arms, and the Kansas City Royals potentially selling — just on the cusp of AL Central lead and wild card — maybe there’s the possibility of a reunion tour for Wood on the North Side?

GM Dayton Moore spoke about the idea of trading players off in May, and it’s not something he’s in a rush to do, yet made it clear trades are something that can come together fast.

Rotation reunion

If Wood were to come back to Chicago, he would be able to fill a variety of roles. While the greatest need is starting pitching, Wood brings experience being able to throw innings out of the bullpen.

Mike Montgomery and Eddie Butler have pitched well out of the rotation, but have not gone especially deep into games. Montgomery continues to throw more innings each outing, and Butler hovers right around the five-inning mark.

In the scenario that he came back to the Cubs to be a rotation piece, Wood would have to stretch back out, but the Cubs know what they would have in him.

He’s done it before.

While it’s been two years since Wood made a start (2015: 2-2, 5.06 ERA), it would not necessarily be a clear-cut addition for the rotation. Rather, the depth he provides is an element that helps Joe Maddon on a nightly basis.