Column: Mistakes led to Dodgers acquiring Alex Wood, the new ‘bulldog’

Alex Wood could be described by his college alma mater’s mascot, a former teammate of his said.

“He’s a bulldog,” Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “He went to Georgia and that’s their mascot. He is 100% that.”

Call a pitcher a bulldog and it’s a compliment. Call a pitcher a bulldog in Los Angeles and it’s something else entirely, of course. You’re comparing him to one of the city’s greatest sporting heroes, whether you intend to or not.

Wood’s performance Friday night in the Dodgers’ 12-3 defeat to the Atlanta Braves didn’t elicit any memories of the original Bulldog, Orel Hershiser. The All-Star left-hander was taken apart by his former team, who saddled him with his first loss of the season by pounding him for nine runs (seven earned) over a labor-intensive 42/3 innings.

None of that changed what Freeman said.

Wood was bound to have a night like this over a six-month regular season. He remains 11-1 with a 2.17 earned-run average, a capable No. 2 starter behind Clayton Kershaw. His fiery temperament offers the promise of the kind of October glory last delivered by you-know-who nearly three decades ago.

On the visiting bench at Dodger Stadium before the game Friday, Braves manager Brian Snitker laughed as he recalled a scene from Wood’s rookie season in 2013. At the time, Snitker was the Braves third base coach.

The Braves were taking on the Washington Nationals in a critical mid-September game. Wood loaded the bases in the fifth inning and walked in a run on a disputed full-count pitch. After giving up another run on a sacrifice fly, Wood was removed from the game. But instead of retreating into the clubhouse, he pointed and cursed at the home plate umpire.

“He got thrown out,” Snitker said. “We’re in a pennant race and everything. I was like, ‘Good for you. That’s pretty cool.’”

Familiar with Wood’s competitive streak, Snitker and Freeman weren’t surprised to hear about how Wood vowed to pitch himself into the Dodgers rotation this year after breaking camp as a reliever. Or how Wood sounded offended by the widespread idea of how the Dodgers should acquire a No. 2 pitcher before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

“Go out and find somebody with better career numbers, who can be a No. 2,” Wood said earlier this month. “Then come talk to me.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts credited Wood’s improved ability to control that ferocity for the left-hander’s emergence as a legitimate frontline starter.

“There’s a difference between being competitive and being over-amped,” Roberts said. “Last year, there were some times he was over-amped. This year, I think his composure is where it’s needed to be all year.”

Wood wouldn’t be here if not for a series of mistakes.

The first was by the Dodgers, who signed Cuban defector Hector Olivera to a six-year, $62.5-million contract in the spring of 2015. The second was by the Braves, who unburdened the Dodgers of their mistake by sending them Wood as part of a three-team trade to acquire Olivera.

Olivera batted .245 in 30 games for the Braves. He was suspended early last year following a domestic dispute and never played again for the Braves, who traded him to the San Diego Padres for Matt Kemp. Olivera was immediately released by the Padres and is now playing for the Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League.

Braves general manager John Coppolella was refreshingly candid when asked about the trade.

“We really like Alex Wood and thought he would be a good pitcher for a long time,” Coppolella wrote in an email. “It was … the price we had to pay to obtain the middle of the order hitter we thought we were getting in Hector Olivera. It was a terrible trade, but our biggest mistake was our evaluation of Olivera.”

The deal was immediately unpopular in the Braves clubhouse.

“He was well-liked on our team,” Freeman said of Wood. “When he got traded a couple of years ago, we were all pretty upset about it. Obviously, if we could go back in time, it would be a little different. The Dodgers got a good haul in that one.”

They got a bulldog, perhaps another who will become a part of this city’s folklore.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

Follow Dylan Hernandez on Twitter @dylanohernandez