An 11th-round draft pick in 1997, Michael Wuertz spent six years in the Cub minor league system before breaking camp with the big league club in 2004 as a 25-year-old reliever.

He's played at nearly every level in the system; he's been both a starter and a reliever; he's been both good and bad.

Like most relievers, Wuertz began his career as a starting pitcher, to which he met mild success. It was not until after a painful 2002 season that Wuertz took to the bullpen.

YEAR	LEVEL	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	K	K/BB
1998	A-	14	14	7	5	3.44	86.1	59	3.11
1999	A	28	28	11	12	4.80	161.1	127	2.89
2000	A+	28	28	12	7	3.78	171.1	142	2.22
2001	AA	27	27	4	9	3.99	160.0	135	2.33
2002	AAA	28	27	9	5	5.55	154.0	131	1.90
2003	AAA	43	16	3	9	4.57	124.0	92	2.63

As a starter, Wuertz was mediocre, at best. He struggled with control and was far from overpowering. But since 2004, he's been a solid arm out of the bullpen for the major league team. True, he's had his ups and downs, spending some time at Triple-A Iowa, but he has steadily improved each year since he moved to the bullpen.

Wuertz With The Cubs

YEAR	G	W	L	ERA	WHIP	K	K/BB
2004	31	1	0	4.34	1.345	30	1.76
2005	75	6	2	3.81	1.322	89	2.23
2006	41	3	1	2.66	1.254	42	2.63

In the majors, Wuertz has never finished a season with less than a strikeout per inning, largely due to a hard, late-breaking slider that is most effective out of the pen. His fastball is by no means overpowering, but Wuertz can locate it well to set up his nasty breaking stuff.

Better yet, Wuertz has been outstanding in close games and at critical moments.

2006

SITUATION	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Late and Close	.186	.288	.238	.526
Tie Game	.188	.257	.328	.585

The only situation in which Wuertz really faltered last season was with two outs and runners in scoring postition: .319 AVG, .418 OBP, .489 SLG.

And Wuertz has done all of this with a career BABIP of .285. Luck, it seems, has not been a factor.

Any predictions for Michael? Here's mine:

70 G, 2.75 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 85 K