Piniella encouraged by Wood's BP session
More encouraging for the Cubs, it was a game face Kerry Wood took to the mound to throw to hitters for the first time this spring. It was just batting practice, but the former rotation ace, who's moving to the bullpen this year, threw well enough -- and seriously enough -- to sprinkle a couple of f-bombs of disgust when he didn't like one of the 27 pitches he threw.
''That's OK, nothing wrong with that,'' manager Lou Piniella said of the competitiveness Wood showed in the brief practice work. ''Yeah, you can see it.''
Wood got a round of applause and an ''Attaboy, Kerry!'' from the nearby bleachers when he was done -- before his manager and pitching coach expressed about the same thing to the media.
Pitching coach Larry Rothschild said Wood will stay on his every-third-day throwing routine for two more BP sessions before being scheduled to work in a Cactus League game. He's still one work day behind the other pitchers in camp.
''If I was Kerry Wood, I'd be very pleased with the way I threw,'' Piniella said of the right-hander, who departed Fitch Park too quickly after the workout for reporters to talk to him. ''He looked nice and comfortable out there. His ball had some life. He threw some real nice breaking pitches. It was really encouraging.''
MILLER TIME SLOWS DOWN: It has been clear for some time that the Cubs aren't counting on Wade Miller to do much for the club this year. But Saturday was the first time anyone in the organization acknowledged publicly that Miller's 2005 shoulder surgery cost him his fastball, probably for good.
The former power pitcher, whose fastball routinely reached the mid-90s early in his career with Houston, had trouble reaching the mid-80s when he returned to the mound late last season, and it doesn't look like that has improved early in camp.
''Velocity's not the name of the game with Wade,'' Piniella said after the former power pitcher threw live batting practice to teammates. ''He doesn't have the arm strength that Kerry and the rest of these guys have, obviously. But he's got good rotation on his breaking ball, and he's spotting his fastball really well.''
From 2001-03, Miller averaged 15 wins and 30 starts a season with Houston before the shoulder problems started in 2004.
PRIOR DEEDS: Right-hander Mark Prior, who's being treated with caution this spring in his comeback from shoulder problems, did not throw to hitters with his usual group, instead doing a lighter, flat-ground throw session, at the pitcher's request, Rothschild said.
It's worth keeping an eye on over the next few days, but Rothschild said Prior was just taking an extra day between live-BP sessions that all the pitchers are getting -- most of them getting that extra day before they throw again Tuesday.
Rothschild said Prior will throw to hitters today.
''I made sure to tell the pitching coach and the trainer to tell these pitchers that have had some physical ailments in the past to work but take it easy,'' Piniella said, ''and not push themselves. There's plenty of time here. The secret is to get these guys all healthy when the season starts.''
BIG Z GOES FRIDAY: Piniella said his Opening Day starter, Carlos Zambrano, will make his first Cactus League start in the second game on the schedule, Friday at home against the Angels. The team is expected to reveal its full pitching schedule through at least the first rotation.
IRISH RISING? Righty Jeff Samardzija, the Notre Dame football All-American-turned top pitching prospect, showed off the blazing stuff that has the Cubs thinking he can be in the majors sometime in 2009.
''He's got one of the better arms here in camp,'' said Piniella, who also said he's starting to see the same thing in Samardzija that the team's top scouts apparently saw when they said the second-year pro could be on a two-year fast track.
''Obviously, he's got the physical attributes,'' Piniella said. ''Plus he's an intelligent kid. Larry's talked to him about a couple of minor adjustments in his delivery, and he's picked them up pretty well.''
QUOTABLE: Piniella, when discussing whether he'd bring some CDs to Fitch Park to play on the space-age CD player former manager Dusty Baker left behind on the manager's office wall: ''I don't know. ... To me, chili peppers is still something you put on a dish.''
SHORT HOPS: First baseman Derrek Lee returned to camp after taking a personal day to attend a family-related function at home in California.
Right-hander Jason Marquis returned to the field and stayed on his throwing schedule, completing a live-BP session. Marquis, who remains on track to start the Cubs' Cactus League opener Thursday against San Francisco, was excused from Friday's work because he was sick.