Despite coming off a career season in which he was named to his first All-Star Game, Alex Wood struggled with command and velocity down the stretch, prompting a change in his delivery. The left-hander elected to ditch his windup in favor of exclusively pitching from the stretch.
While much has been made of the change, Wood doesn’t view it as drastic by any means. He’s hopeful it will aid his effort to become more sound mechanically, as his delivery will be repeated, regardless of whether or not runners are on base.
Wood formally unveiled his new look on Monday in a start against the Texas Rangers. Like Clayton Kershaw the day prior, he went just one inning and completed another in the bullpen.
Wood walked the first two batters faced and ultimately allowed two runs on one hit. Considering it was his 2018 debut, Wood is more concerned with establishing his rhythm than results, per Dave Sessions of MLB.com:
“My timing and tempo are going to be the big thing for me,” he said. “Mechanically, I feel good, it’s just kind of getting that speed and that tempo of my delivery locked in. Once that clicks, everything should fall into place.”
The Dodgers aren’t yet on a five-man rotation in Cactus League play, but Wood figures to make a second spring start by early next week. It can be presumed it will include the 27-year-old stretching to two innings of work.
Beyond now pitching full time out of the stretch, this spring is unlike others for Wood in that he isn’t battling for a spot in the Dodgers’ Opening Day rotation. Assuming injuries do not set in, Wood is likely to join Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda and Hyun-Jin Ryu as the team’s five starters.
