Mike Krukow

The Cubs are coming off the worst record in the National League, and off a $300-million spending spree this winter aimed at player improvements.

But for all of their splashy moves and free-flowing dollars, the Cubs' biggest questions for 2007 center on two very familiar names to their fans: Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.

The Cubs everyday lineup is solid, their defense is fine, and they've hired and paid handsomely for a manager in Lou Piniella who espouses a win-now attitude.

But the biggest fear the Cubs have is one they have had in the past -- they can't have Prior and Wood go down to injury.

Stop pampering Prior
Only once has Prior pitched over 200 innings in a season. That was in 2003, and what's pretty much followed has been frequent and frustrating trips to the disabled list (eight times in four years) leaving a big if on whether Prior can ever again prove as durable as he was four years ago.

Persistent shoulder problems and a strained left oblique muscle limited Prior to nine games last season. That was the lowest total of his five years in the majors.

But if this season he can stay healthy, we could see the Prior of old. And it's this simple: if the 26-year-old right-hander can give the Cubs 200 innings, they could pull off a stunner and win the National League Central.

The Prior scenario is one that is unique, and it hasn't necessarily been beneficial for the former USC standout. Everywhere Prior has been his whole life, he has been babied because of his golden arm. The time for that to stop is now.

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If there's ever been a body that's built to absorb innings, it's Prior's. He is 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, but the fact that he has had it ingrained in his mind that he has to be very careful over how much and when he pitches has hurt him.

At some point in time, and maybe it ends up not being with the Cubs, I expect Prior to wake up and say forget this kid-glove approach, and forget the way he goes about pitching a game.

He's been in a strikeout mode since he first put on a big-league uniform, and that means he nibbles early in the count and throws a lot of pitches.

He needs to learn how to pitch in the big leagues, and primarily that means understanding the most effective use of the fastball with the two grips -- going up and down and to both sides of the plate with it so it actually becomes four pitches.

Once he does this, he will be able to explode. And when that happens, you won't see him have 15-to-20 pitch innings. He'll have 10-to-15 pitch innings, and he'll be able to extend longer into games. He'll once more have a solid shot at throwing 200 innings in a season.

At some point in time, Prior needs to realize that even if he's not feeling terrific physically, he has to go out on the mound and kick it in gear. The Cubs need and would love for that time to be this season.

No knock on Wood's switch
Like Prior, Wood has been hurt so often that even the Cubs' team statistician has probably lost count of his trips to the disabled list. Pitching nearly 600 innings from 2001-03 didn't help keep the 29-year-old healthy.

I've always loved Woods' attitude. When he's healthy, he's just been a gorilla, and he has pitched through pain. He wants it so bad, he's even pitched when physically he shouldn't have been on the mound.

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So the move of Wood to the bullpen this season might be just what the doctor ordered -- no pun intended. I don't feel Wood will get eaten up pitching in relief.

Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild is really good at what he does, and he'll do a solid job handling Wood out of the bullpen.

In its simplest form, that means when Wood gets loose, he's going in the game. I doubt you will ever see Wood get up twice in a game, and not enter it.

I don't see Wood throwing in more than three games a week, and I don't see him heating up more than once a game. That's the smart way to manage him, and I'm sure Rothschild and Piniella will follow this plan.

Ryan Dempster blew nine saves as the Cubs' closer last season. So there is some question over Dempster in that role, and it may be that six weeks into the season, Wood is closing and Dempster is the set-up man.

I wouldn't be surprised at that as I also wouldn't be surprised if Wood blossomed in the closer's role. The Cubs would be overjoyed by that knowing it would go a long way to helping them have a winning season and a shot at the playoffs.

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