Published: October 19, 2009 11:45 pm      

Heilman looking to 2010

Logan hurler expects Cubs to bounce back next season.

Aaron Heilman was in the enviable position this summer of pitching for the team he grew up rooting for — the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs entered 2009 as the consensus favorite to win the National League Central. But like the previous 101 years, things didn’t go as well as the Cubs would’ve liked. They had an August collapse and never recovered, finishing 83-78, 7.5 games behind champion St. Louis and 8.5 games behind wild-card winner Colorado.

“It’s certainly disappointing when you don’t make it to the playoffs when you had made it there the last two years,” said Heilman, a Logansport native. “Of course I wasn’t a part of [the playoff teams], but I did get that sense of disappointment. I just don’t think we were able to finish up as strong as we wanted to.”

Heilman noted the Cubs had to deal with several injuries to key players during the season and that other players didn’t put up their normal seasons statistics-wise.

“That’s why they play 162 games, you never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “At the end of the day we came up short.”

After a slow start, Heilman brought his 2009 ERA (4.11) to 0.11 lower than his career ERA. The seven-year veteran had a 4-4 record out of the bullpen. In 72.1 innings pitched, he had 65 strikeouts and 34 walks.

“It was a little disappointing as far as numbers go,” Heilman said. “I had a few rough outings, which certainly hurts you as a reliever because you don’t get the volume of innings to lower your ERA to a respectable range. I feel like I made the adjustments I needed to make, unfortunately that didn’t come as quickly as I would have liked. Overall, I threw the ball better than I did last year. I strive to pitch to my ability. Hopefully I can build on this year and have a better [2010].”

Heilman’s best season in the majors ERA-wise was in 2007 when he had a 3.03 ERA in 86 innings pitched for the New York Mets.

“I think I was working out the kinks in the first half [of ’09] trying to get back to the way I pitched in ’06 and ’07 when I was really effective,” he said. “I’d certainly like to get back to that a little bit earlier but unfortunately things don’t always work out the way you’d like it. The last two months of the season I performed up to my ability.”

Heilman, who turns 31 in November, is in a good position this offseason. The 2010 season is his last year of salary arbitration before he enters free agency, and the Chicago Tribune reported on Sept. 12 that if the Cubs decide to keep him, he might be worth $3 million or more next season. If they don’t decide to keep him, he’ll be a free agent.

Heilman wants to be a starter but hasn’t gotten the chance since 2005 when he started seven games for the Mets. He’s started 25 games in his career, which includes a one-hit shutout in ’05.

“I don’t think my answer has changed on that,” Heilman said. “The Cubs certainly aren’t opposed to taking a reliever and making him a starter. They did that with [Ryan] Dempster. There’s a possibility there. Whether or not the right situation presents itself with the team and myself, I don’t know. My position is I’d still like the chance to pitch a full season as a starter and see what happens. Whether that’s in a Cubs uniform or not, I don’t know. I plan on next year going in competing for a job like I did this year and see who wins.”

Heilman enjoys playing in Chicago for an organization that he’s “proud” to be a part of in a city where he recently built a home.

“Certainly I had a great time this year being able to play at home and live at home during the season, which is very much a luxury in professional baseball,” he said. “It’s great playing in Wrigley everyday in front of 45,000 fans. It’s petty neat. I couldn’t imagine a better place to play.”

The Cubs still have many of the big names that led them to 97 wins in 2008. A turnaround season in 2010 is certainly a possibility.

“If you get into the playoffs, it’s a funny beast,” Heilman said. “You could end up in the World Series.”