Blister sends Wood to 15-day DL

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CHICAGO - For days, the Cubs did all they could to postpone the inevitable. They waited. And waited. Until finally, they could wait no longer. On Thursday, the Cubs, left with no other choice, placed closer Kerry Wood on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 14, with a friction blister on his right index finger. Wood could come off the DL as early as Tuesday. “We sort of felt for the past few days that it would end this way,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. “We were hoping it wouldn't. He hasn't thrown in 12 days or so. The blister is not entirely healed. So this is really the prudent thing to do. “We rode it as long as we could.” It is the 12th career DL stint for Wood, who declined comment. Cubs general manager Jim Hendry explained the timing of the move. “He's making progress; he's getting better,” he said. “But with this amount of time off (Wood last pitched July 11), I think he's going to need a little work. “Obviously, we tried to delay it. But the longer it went, it became apparent that he was going to need a little bit of work. Whether it's a couple of bullpens, one good one, a bullpen [session] and a simulated game ... we'll see how it goes.” Kerry Wood throwing a simulated game? Haven't we heard this before? Like say, for the past decade or so? Despite uttering the dreaded phrase, Hendry seemed upbeat. “This isn't an elbow problem or a shoulder problem,” he said. “He's got a real bad blister. From what [trainer] Mark O'Neal told me, there [aren't] any irregularities. They didn't find anything underneath it ... it was just a read bad blister. “It's taken a long, long time to heal - there's been a lot of skin irritation. But there was not any infection underneath, there was nothing found underneath.” Hendry said the Cubs tried everything to keep the blister under control. He saw three hand specialists - one in Phoenix, two in Chicago. “We've tried everything, really,” Hendry said. “Pickle juice, ointments ... keeping it moist, keeping it dry. We tried everything. I haven't asked him if he's tried the Moises Alou approach - I'm sure, with his frustration level, he's probably tried that by now. But I didn't want to ask. “All the efforts have been made. It's just in a spot that's obviously harder to heal.” Hendry stressed that with blisters, you just never know. “Everybody's different,” he said. “It's hard to explain. I think we all felt the break would do him good, we thought skipping [the All-Star Game] would be great, that he'd be ready to go the first day in Houston. He obviously wasn't.”