Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood pitched for the Peoria Chiefs for a rehab assignment Sunday, in front of 8,426 in attendance at O’brien Field, in downtown Peoria.

Wood struckout 12 batters in five innings. The (now Chicago Cubs affiliate) Peoria Chiefs is a single A, Minor League team. The Midwest League can hardly be called a comparison to that of the level that Wood has been accustomed to pitching in, but nevertheless his outing was a good one.

Despite the superstar status that Wood has enjoyed throughout his career with the Cubs, he hardly has the numbers to back-up his inflated status. For instance, in his best season, in 2003, he only won 14 games and lost 11. This is not all that good.

Truly, the highlight of his career is 20 strikeouts in one game. Wood is a power pitcher; a strikeout pitcher. He has had a significant amount of strikeouts in his pitching career. Yet his strikeouts have not significantly contributed to his team’s success. I’m not a Kerry Wood hater, I just don’t think that he’s the best choice as a starting pitcher. I feel that he would better serve his team by keeping his pitch count low (thus reducing threat of injury), and would be most beneficial as a middle-relief pitcher. Of course there are those who call me nuts for saying that. However, I can say that most of these people do not eat and breathe baseball like I do.

I’d love to see Kerry Wood sport the Birds On a Bat uniform, don’t get me wrong (although I’m not holding my breathe). However, I’m into reality, and reality shows me that I’d rather have a pitcher like Mark Mulder or Sidney Ponson, two pitchers capable of winning 17 games or more, any day. It is understood already that we can, and will, expect this of Cardinals’ ace, Chris Carpenter, who won the Cy Young Award for the NL in 2005.

All-star, small-star. Talk about greatness when you actually win the Pennant, I say.

I find it hilarious that Cubs fans blame Derek Lee’s injury for the fact that they suck. It has nothing to do with their lack of decent pitching I suppose, that is with the exception of future Hall of Famer, Greg Maddux (a former Peoria Chief).