Coming off his first All-Star selection in 2017, Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood looks primed for further success this season.
In his most recent Spring Training outing, Wood dominated a group of Chicago White Sox Minor Leaguers in a ‘B’ game at Camelback Ranch. He tossed five scoreless innings and yielded just one hit while accumulating six strikeouts.
After the game, Wood revealed he felt less pressured in the Minor League setting, which allowed him to work on his mechanics, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“I got ahead for the most part and that makes things a lot easier,” said Wood, who is expected to get two more Cactus League starts. “It’s nice to get anybody out. From an intensity standpoint, you don’t get the same work level as you do in a real big league game in front of fans. At the same time, the benefit of it is I can actually try to work on things mechanically, postural things I’ve been toying with. You can try things in the bullpen, but it translates different at game speed.”
The impressive showing comes just six days after Wood enjoyed similar success against the Cleveland Indians in a Cactus League game.
He logged four shutout innings in the start, allowing just two hits while recording five strikeouts against a lineup that featured the likes of Edwin Encarnacion, Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. Afterward, Wood felt that the bullpen adjustments he made were key for blanking a stacked Indians lineup.
All-in-all, Wood has compiled a 2-0 record over three games with a 4.91 ERA and 1.23 WHIP across 7.1 innings this spring. He’s expected to make two more Cactus League starts before the regular season kicks off on March 29.
As it presently stands, Wood slots in behind Clayton Kershaw in the Dodgers’ Opening Day rotation.
