Dempster's saving grace is a new year
Closer eyes fresh start, but there's pressure from Wood
MESA, Ariz. -- Ask Lou Piniella about his two biggest concerns during his first Cubs camp, and the veteran manager doesn't hesitate with an answer.
''The closer's position is important to us, no question,'' Piniella said Friday. ''And then the second-most important thing here is what happens in center field.''
Smart money says Alfonso Soriano locks up the center-field job, at least until top prospect Felix Pie proves he is ready -- and there is a growing feeling that the 22-year-old might have a major-league job long before the All-Star break.
So that leaves the closer situation as the biggest puzzle facing Piniella.
The job belongs to the incumbent, though you barely can call Ryan Dempster that after he lost the job in the closing days of the 2006 season. If Dempster has an early stumble, his leash might be short.
''Look, we need Dempster to bounce back and have a 2005 season,'' Piniella said.
With Kerry Wood setting up shop in the bullpen, Dempster has every reason to hear footsteps from his hard-throwing teammate. Wood looks like a kid again, arriving at camp 30 pounds lighter.
Dempster also is sporting a new look after dropping about 20 pounds.
It turns out that as Dempster's blown saves were piling up in the second half, so were the pounds.
''Toward the end of the year, I would be naive to think I wasn't heavier than I normally was,'' Dempster said. ''When you're struggling as a team, especially toward the tail end of the season, it's terrible as a professional athlete and a big-league ballplayer, but I found myself letting a lot of things go.
''Like I would also go to the ballpark and get on the bike and ride for 25, 30 minutes. But then it was like the end of the season couldn't get there fast enough. You find yourself not doing a lot of those things. Then when you're going out to Morton's and having a nice steak with those potatoes and all of that kind of stuff afterward and you're not doing the other things, the weight quickly piled up in a hurry.''
Dempster was ballooning along with his statistics.
The right-hander went 1-9 with a 4.80 ERA in a career-high 74 outings. The former starter set a record with 26 saves in 26 chances. His streak began with a 19-save stretch in 2005 and carried over into the '06 season. It ended May 13, when he blew a save in his eighth chance of the season.
That started a startling new stretch -- three blown saves in four chances.
It got to the point that Dempster was taking the mound expecting the worst -- not the best outlook for the tightrope life of a closer.
''Yeah, sometimes I did, to be honest,'' he said. ''We weren't having a lot of wins, and it was tough. That was the worst thing -- we weren't winning as a team. You're going out there and losing six out of every seven games. Whether or not I pitched in a save or a non-save, I put too much pressure on myself to get the job done. And that wasn't me in the past. I was trying to be too perfect. I'm going to go out there and go right after guys, and hopefully that gets the job done.''
His final save of 2006 came on Aug. 14, when his ERA was still a respectable 3.90. His next four save chances were disasters. By the final week of the season, manager Dusty Baker was keeping Dempster away from ninth-inning duty.
Though Baker had little choice, that didn't do much for Dempster's confidence.
''I think sometimes when you don't get a chance to go back out there when a save situation comes up, I think those are the times when you wonder ... not necessarily doubt yourself ... yeah, you doubt yourself,'' Dempster said. ''You're like, 'Man, why am I not back out there in that situation?' It's just a confidence thing. This game is all about confidence.''
Oddly enough, Dempster arrived in camp full of confidence, even if everyone else seems to think he is on a short leash.
What about the presence of Wood, who has a contract loaded with incentives if he becomes the closer?
''Having Woody down there is huge,'' Dempster said. ''He showed two years ago pitching out of there that a lot of people are not going to hit that, that's for sure.
''I'm not worried about it at all. I feel in great shape, and my arm feels good and healthy. Lou has been great with me. I'm just expecting to go out there and do my job, like I always have.''
As an analyst for Fox last season, Piniella got a chance to watch Dempster a couple of times. He saw the closer at his best and at his worst.
''His stuff was good, but his command got him in trouble,'' Piniella said of a closer who walked 36 and struck out 67 in 75 innings. ''You look at his season, and command -- walks -- had a lot to do with his problem. Well, that's a position, the closer's role, where you have got to be able to throw strikes. And that's what we will work with Ryan more than anything else this spring.''
Dempster believes the rebuilt Cubs will give him more save chances and allow him to develop the kind of rhythm that eluded him during a lost 2006.
''I always found, when you look at '05, the days that I was on my third, fourth day in a row were the days I was crisp as can be,'' he said.''For me, the more I throw, the better I feel. Hopefully this year there will be a lot more wins, and hopefully I will be throwing a lot more.
''That's why I always say, that's the good part about Dick Clark, he always drops that ball in Times Square -- or Ryan Seacrest or whoever does it now -- and it's a new year; 2006 is over with. For me, that's water under the bridge, and I just focus on going ahead with this year.''
Francisco Cordero, Brewers/Rangers 11
Huston Street, Athletics 11
Jason Isringhausen, Cardinals 10
Ryan Dempster, CUBS 9
Scott Linebrink, Padres 9
Matt Capps, Pirates 9