Although Alex Wood was coming off an injury-shortened season with the Cincinnati Reds, he and the Los Angeles Dodgers were optimistic 2020 would be a bounce-back year. That stemmed from an offseason in which Wood was among the Dodgers pitchers to visit ballyhooed Driveline Baseball.
While Wood managed to live up to that in Spring Training and Summer Camp, he made just one start before being placed on the 10-day injured list due to left shoulder inflammation. After a period in which he was shut down from all activities, Wood faced Gavin Lux and DJ Peters in live batting practice on Wednesday.
“It went well. I felt healthy, so that was our main goal. I threw pretty good, gave up one hit, a couple strikeouts,” Wood said. “Overall it was good.”
Wood went on to explain he battled minor shoulder discomfort during Summer Camp but continued to pitch through it because there were not any visible signs of a drop off. That changed in his regular season debut, when Wood said his arm slot dropped by six inches.
“It’s super beneficial to be able to see hard data and track consistently start to start, ‘pen to ‘pen, whatever it may be,” he said. “It’s a huge help, because before you were essentially just guessing. Most guys, when they don’t feel right or their stuff doesn’t feel right, you can assume something is not clicking the way it’s supposed to be; whether it’s physically, mentally.
“To have the hard data, be able to look at each start to see where you’re at, where you want to go, things like that is very beneficial.”
Next steps for Wood
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was among those keeping a watchful eye on Wood during his live BP session, and he too came away encouraged with the result. However, with the Dodgers receiving quality contributions from Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, there is a luxury with Wood gradually going through his rehab.
“Right now where we’re at is Alex is going to throw a ‘pen on Saturday and then three innings on Tuesday. If you look out, it would be the following Monday or Tuesday where he would throw four innings,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers prefer for Wood to at minimum be in position to throw four innings or 60 pitches upon being activated, and possibly five innings and 75 pitches.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in our shows, and more!
