Los Angeles Dodgers: Alex Wood has been team’s second ace
By Kyle Cardoza
Alex Wood showed his potential while in Atlanta, but was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers before his skills came into fruition. Now the southpaw is thriving on the best team in the National League and sporting some of the best numbers in baseball.
Did anyone expect this?
With the All-Star break less than a week away, just two starting pitchers with more than 75 innings under their belt own a perfect record.
The first is Dallas Keuchel, who at 9-0 has reestablished himself as a dominant ace for the AL-leading Houston Astros despite being out for nearly a month with a neck injury. The second is Alex Wood, who has perplexed hitters all season and has arguably pitched better than the face of the Dodgers franchise, Clayton Kershaw.
Scary to think Wood didn’t earn an All-Star spot with a perfect 10-0 record, 1.67 ERA and 0.89 WHIP. But he should still be in Miami come next Tuesday.
This year has been intriguing considering a lot of non-power pitchers have been successful, including Jason Vargas and Ervin Santana. But there are still the aces with overpowering stuff that have stymied hitters all year – Corey Kluber, Chris Sale and especially Max Scherzer.
But Wood wasn’t expected to be among the best pitchers in baseball this season. He wasn’t even slated to be in the starting rotation before the season started. But he’s proven he belongs near the top of it, as seen in Wednesday’s victory over the Diamondbacks.
Wood isn’t a pitch-to-contact guy. He’s averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings, which would rank sixth if he qualified for that category. He hasn’t allowed many hits either, surrendering just 5.6 per nine innings.
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But he doesn’t boast an overpowering arsenal. He doesn’t throw a Noah Syndergaard-like 93-mph slider or a mid-90s fastball. His repertoire revolves around a sinker that tops out at around 92, but he mixes in a curveball and changeup to keep hitters off-balance.
And unlike in the past, it’s worked this year.
Wood’s sinker has been much more effective, as hitters are posting a measly .195 average against it, per FanGraphs. But his go-to punch-out pitch has been his changeup: Opponents are hitting .128 against it with 27 strikeouts in 78 at-bats.
Home runs were an issue for the southpaw early in his career, but he’s eliminated them as a threat during his stint in Los Angeles. He allowed five long balls last year in 60 1/3 innings. He’s yielded just two this year in 80 2/3 innings.
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While Kershaw has still been ace-like in his 2017 campaign, Wood has posted better numbers. Does that mean Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could potentially slot Wood as a Game 1 starter in a playoff series? Probably not. Kershaw is still the man, and rightly so.
But of the rest of the arms in Los Angeles’ deep rotation, Wood is a notch above the rest. If he stays healthy, expect Roberts to give him the call in a Game 2.