Kerry Wood Leads NL in Saves
In perhaps the most surprising turn of his career, Wood has pitched himself to the upper tier of National League closers in his first full season in the role: He leads the league with 18 saves. What's not surprising is that the former "Kid K" also leads all NL closers in strikeouts with 40 k's.
His ERA isn't as superhuman as Brad Lidge's 0.96, and his 6 hit-batsmen stings a little, but as long as Wood can stay healthy, expect him to work through the problems that he's faced and hold down the Cubs' closer role until the final out of the 2008 World Series. After that? 2008 is his contract year. With the red-hot Marmol waiting in the wings with his half-a-million dollar contract (compared to Wood's $4.2 million this year), we could be witnessing Kid K's final season in Chicago.
I certainly hope this isn't Woods last season in Chicago. I love the Marmol & Wood combination. I have defended Wood as our closer since day one and want to see him continue in his success through the world series (knock on wood... haha).
Btw, great blog!
- Stephanie
http://steponme.mlblogs.com/
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The Marmol and Wood combination is the best hold/save combination in the Majors since Okajima/Papelbon tore it up last year. But Cubs fans have been through a lot with Wood, so there's reason to be skeptical.
- Andrew
http://1060westaddison.mlblogs.com
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