Dodgers Dugout: Alex Wood has locked himself into the rotation
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and I hope all you moms had a wonderful Mother’s Day.
Alex Wood
On July 30, 2015, as part of a three-team deal, the Dodgers traded Zach Bird, Hector Olivera and Paco Rodriguez to Atlanta and Victor Araujo, Jeff Brigham, and Kevin Guzman to Miami. In return, they got Alex Wood, Bronson Arroyo, Luis Avilan, Jim Johnson, Jose Peraza, Mat Latos and Mike Morse.
After Latos went 0-3 with a 6.66 ERA as a starter and Johnson went 0-3 with a 10.13 ERA in the bullpen, some genius wrote after the season that it “was one of the worst trades in Dodger history.” I mean really, how dumb do you have to be? Let me look that article up so I can find out who wrote it and ridicule him. Oh, wait a minute. I wrote that.
If I remember correctly, that was the day I was abducted by a UFO and an imposter replaced me. That impostor knew nothing about baseball. That’s my story and I am sticking to it.
Anyway, that now has turned out to be one of the better trades in Dodger history, thanks in great part to one person: Alex Wood.
Wood went 5-6 with a 4.35 ERA with L.A. in 2015. In 2016, he was injured a bit and went 1-4 with a 3.73 ERA. Nothing too Earth-shattering there, but a lot of promise for a 25-year-old.
This season, he is cashing in on that promise. Not only did he pitch six scoreless innings and strike out 11 in Denver on Saturday, as a starter he is 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA, striking out 44 and walking 10 in 30 1/3 innings. Since April 26, he is 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA and 34 strikeouts, 15 hits allowed and four walks in 22 innings.
Since April 26, Clayton Kershaw is 2-1 with a 2.66 ERA and 18 strikeouts, 20 hits allowed and five walks in 20 1/3 innings. Obviously, Wood is not Kershaw quite yet, but he has been pitching at that level.
The Dodgers basically have seven starting pitchers for five spots right now. Kenta Maeda, Brandon McCarthy and Rich Hill are on the 10-day disabled list. McCarthy is scheduled to be activated and pitch tonight while Hill will be activated and pitch Tuesday. But Alex Wood will not be going anywhere.
“We have a large stable of starting pitchers, but always, performance should be rewarded,” Manager Dave Roberts said after Saturday’s game. “For him going forward, it makes sense for him to get another start.”
Nice stretch
After losing to the Giants, 4-3, on April 26, the Dodgers were 10-12 and in third place in the NL West. Since then, they have gone 12-4 and are 1 ½ games out of first place.
The obscure Dodgers record of the week
Which pitcher (minimum 1,000 innings) holds the Dodgers record for fewest strikeouts per nine innings?
Sherry Smith, with a 2.20 SO/9IP rate. Curt Davis is second at 2.60 and George Bell is third at 3.12. They all pitched before 1950 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. If we only count Los Angeles Dodgers, then the top three are Claude Osteen(4.36), Jerry Reuss (4.38) and Tommy John (4.88).
The pitchers with the highest strikeout rate are Clayton Kershaw (9.79), Sandy Koufax (9.28) and Hideo Nomo (8.87). Dazzy Vance leads those who pitched only in Brooklyn at 6.26.
Next series
Monday, 7:15 p.m. PDT, Dodgers (Brandon McCarthy) at San Francisco (Matt Cain)
Tuesday, 7:15 p.m. PDT, Dodgers (Rich Hill) at San Francisco (Ty Blach)
Wednesday, 12:45 p.m. PDT, Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw) at San Francisco (Johnny Cueto)
KTLA games
Sunday, May 21, 1 p.m. PDT, Miami at Dodgers
And finally
Dodgers hope Logan Forsythe will return during the next home stand. Read all about it here.
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me and follow me on Twitter: @latimeshouston.
Twitter: @latimeshouston
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