MILWAUKEE _ Cubs manager Joe Maddon admits he doesn't have any immediate answers for curing the wildness of pitcher Tyler Chatwood.
And finding time for him work on his problems likely won't occur soon as the Cubs are in the midst of trying to secure the National League Central title.
"I'd like to believe (Chatwood would need) an offseason of just chilling out and become probably less mechanical, more external," Maddon said Monday, one day after Chatwood walked five and hit a batter in 21/3 innings in his final rehab start for Triple-A Iowa. "Just seeing a target and throwing the baseball to it."
Maddon said the Cubs are still learning about Chatwood, who signed a three-year, $38 million contract last December and was activated from the 10-day disabled list after experiencing hip tightness. Chatwood's control problems are acute and leave plenty of questions entering next spring about his status as a part of the rotation.
"I don't know how to say it," Maddon said. "He doesn't know where the ball is going right now on a consistent basis. We got to get him back to that.
"If he can, the stuff is high end."
Chatwood has walked 93 in 1012/3 innings. There were warning signs last season even though his 2.57 ERA was the second-lowest road ERA in the National League over the past two seasons. Chatwood threw only 58 percent first-pitch strikes last season.
"It's not where he's pitching, it's just where the ball is going," Maddon said. "More than anything, we got to get him back in the (strike) zone."
Maddon acknowledged Chatwood would receive plenty of attention in the offseason, but that it was too early to make a decision on his role in 2019.
"We'll try to make our best guess going into spring training," Maddon said. "We hope there's that epiphany that arises and all of a sudden the ball is going where it wants to again. But it's hard to really evaluate, based on what we've seen to this point."
