When Kerry Wood was called up to the big leagues with the Chicago Cubs in 1998, he was an instant phenom. 13 years later he is a brittle set up man with a medical bill that almost equals his salary.
His story is similar to his former Yankee teammate Joba Chamberlain. Like Wood, Joba came on the scene like a ball of fire and looked like either a future ace, or the heir to Mariano Rivera's throne as the closer of the New York Yankees. Then, the Yankees made a string of mistakes in terms of how they handled their young phenom, starting with a set of rules on how they can and can't use him, AKA, "Joba Rules." It only got worse from there. The Yankees kept changing him from a reliever to a starter or the other way around. In 2010, he finally was given a permanent role as a reliever, but he struggled mightily, posting an ERA of 4.40 while struggling to find consistency. Though at the start of the current season he began to show progress, he was stricken with elbow pain and will be under going Tommy John surgery on Thursday.
One can only wonder whether he will ever pitch for the Yankees again, and if he will ever return to form. If you look at the story of Kerry Wood, the outlook is bleak.
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