Kerry Wood better, but no timetable for return
BY GORDON WITTENMYER gwittenmyer@suntimes.com April 25, 2012 9:38PM
Alfonso Soriano of the Cubs spits as a flock of seagulls fly past in the eighth inning at Wrigley Field Wednesday, April 25, 2012, in Chicago. | John J. Kim~Sun-Times
Updated: May 28, 2012 8:54AM
Cubs setup man Kerry Wood continues to make progress from the fatigue in his right shoulder that landed him on the 15-day disabled list, said manager Dale Sveum, who stressed no specific timetable for his return.
Wood threw from a mound Tuesday for the first time since going on the DL.
‘‘Everything’s going good; he feels a lot better,’’ Sveum said. ‘‘We’ll just keep building that up. We’re not putting any timetable on it. We’re just going to make sure that he’s ready to go when we activate him.’’
Wood is eligible to return Sunday at Philadelphia.
‘‘It’ll be close,’’ Sveum said. ‘‘I’m not going to say it’s going to be that exact day or not. We need to go out and throw his curveball, too, off the mound, just really make sure that everything’s good.’’
Catching on
If it seems as though pitching coach Chris Bosio makes far fewer trips to the mound than, say, longtime predecessor Larry Rothschild, it’s because that’s by design.
‘‘We’re doing a little bit more through the catchers,’’ Sveum said of using Geovany Soto and Steve Clevenger to deliver messages and breathers from the bench. ‘‘We’re leaving it up to them a little bit, then when we need to, we’ll go out. . . . We’ll see how that works out.
‘‘So far we’ve had some pretty good catcher’s meetings on the mound,
and it’s turned out pretty good.’’
Of note
Clevenger, who made his fifth start of the season Wednesday, has caught one start from each member of the season-opening rotation. The Cubs are 3-2 with a 1.88 ERA in those games and 3-11 with a 5.29 ERA in the rest.
