Wood Returns

Not a Banner Year for the Young Family

First you had Delmon Young, a top prospect for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, suspended for 50 games by the Internation League for his "Hey ump, think quick" bat incident after being stuck out by Pawtucket's Jon Lester. Now it's surfaced that his older brother, Dmitri, DH for the Detroit Tigers, has been charged with domestic violence.

This can be considered out of character for Dmitri, who is widely regarded as being one of baseball's "good guys", and has drawn praise for his criticism of his younger brother's transgressions.

Kerry Wood Returns...But For How Long?

Every baseball fan remembers the way Kerry Wood burst onto the scene in 1998. In just his 5th start, the 20-year old Wood fanned 20 Houston Astros, and the comparisons to another big right-handed starting pitcher from Texas were simply too obvious to ignore. In the 8 years that followed, Wood has made 9 trips to the disabled list. His arm never able to remain healthy enough to deliver on the Hall of Fame promise it showed.

Today, Wood returns to the mound for the first time in 10 months. There's been a lot of talk about how Wood was overused when he was young, which may or may not be true. It seems obvious considering how quickly his injuries came.

If overusage is really a concern regarding Wood, then perhaps the best thing for him would be to get far away from Dusty Baker, who has a history of burning out starting pitching. Just look at how Mark Prior, a pitcher with flawless mechanics when he was called up, has had his career derailed by injuries under Dusty's stewardship.

Coming tomorrow: A review of the first quarter of the MLB season.