In the days leading up to their seven-game road trip, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the starting rotation was likely to remain unchanged after the off-day. With that, the rookie manager explained, the starters were expected to take their next turn on an extra day of rest.
That left Alex Wood (Friday), Kenta Maeda (Saturday) and Clayton Kershaw (Sunday) as the probables for the three-game series with the New York Mets on Citi Field. However, prior to boarding their cross-country chartered flight, the Dodgers announced Wood’s start was pushed back to Monday due to left triceps soreness.
The club selected the contract of prized left-hander Julio Urias and started him in the opener against the Mets.
While Urias’ Major League debut understandably became the dominant talking point, Wood’s injury appeared to be cause for concern. He was scratched from a Spring Training start because to tightness in his left forearm.
According to Jon Weisman of Dodger Insider, Wood told Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman he was capable of starting as scheduled:
“Talking to Woody yesterday, (he was saying), ‘Look, I can go Friday.’ But that just wasn’t in anyone’s best long-term interests. He’s a competitor and wanted to go, but once we told him we thought the prudent thing to do was to give him a few extra days, he totally agreed with it and I think even was slightly relieved, just to have a few more days to let it calm down and hopefully put it behind us for good.”
Friedman added Wood’s latest injury is a result of a swing during an at-bat against the St. Louis Cardinals, which lessens the concern:
“They’re totally unrelated. And the fact that Wood’s happened (with his) swing also makes me feel better.”
After shaky outings throughout April, Wood has settled in over his past three starts. In a combined 18.1 innings pitched, the southpaw has only allowed five runs (four earned) on 11 hits and five runs (four earned).
The success is tied to mechanical changes and a byproduct has been a rise in strikeouts for Wood; he set a career high with 13 punchouts in his last outing. On the season, Wood is 1-3 with a 4.03 ERA, 3.32 FIP and 1.25 WHIP in nine starts.
