With a surplus of starting pitchers on their roster, the Los Angeles Dodgers broke camp during the spring with Alex Wood bumped into a relief role. He voiced disappointment over the circumstances but said he accepted any decision the team made.
Wood’s time in the bullpen was short lived. He made a spot start April 10 and another 11 days later. There was one relief appearance sandwiched between the two outings. Wood start again April 26, and remained in the rotation for the entire season.
With the Dodgers set to embark on their fifth consecutive trip to the playoffs, Wood’s outlook once again is clouded. While he was one of the team’s better starters throughout the year, the Dodgers have not committed to Wood being in their postseason rotation.
Hyun-Jin Ryu’s string of recent success, coupled with Wood’s previous experience in pitching out of the bullpen, has lent to him possibly shifting to the bullpen once more.
Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times:
Roberts indicated the Dodgers are considering a hybrid approach, with Wood available as a reliever early in the series while still slotted to start a fourth game.
Wood is a career 4-2 with a 2.53 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 37 games as a relief pitcher. He went 1-0 and pitched 5.1 scoreless innings in two such games this season.
Overall in 2017, he finished 16-3 with a 2.72 ERA, 3.32 FIP and 1.06 WHIP in 27 games. The 26-year-old was an impressive 10-0 with a 1.67 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 10.8 strikeouts per nine in 15 games (13 starts) in the first half to earn his first career selection to the All-Star Game.
Wood battled a second brush with left SC joint inflammation and regressed some in the second half. In 12 starts he was 4-3 with a 3.89 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and averaged 6.8 strikeouts per nine.
It should be noted he was 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA in his last three starts.
