I Think I Will Miss You Most of All, Alex Wood

My apologies to the Wizard of Oz line, but it seems appropriate for me at this time.  Please indulge me with a tribute to one of my all-time favorite Dodgers, Alex Wood.  I do not know why I grew an attachment to Alex Wood.  He has been someone I have followed since his rookie year, wishing that he could somehow find his way to the Dodgers.  That was kind of selfish since he was somewhat home in the South having grown up in North Carolina where he was North Carolina Class 4A player of the year in 2009.  After HS he matriculated to University of Georgia, about 60 miles from Atlanta.

 

Wood had TJ surgery after his HS senior season, but after 3 years at the University of Georgia, Wood was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 2^nd round of the 2012 amateur draft.  Wood started his professional career in the South Atlantic League, Low full season A ball.  In 2013, Wood started in AA, and after 2 months was promoted straight to Atlanta where he made his ML debut pitching a scoreless 9^th inning mopping up an 11-3 win against the Toronto Blue Jays.  He made his ML debut less than 1 year after being drafted.

 

It was on my 61^st birthday sitting in a friend’s back yard BBQ for me, while watching the Dodgers play Atlanta that I first “discovered” Alex Wood.  As most of us remember, 2013 did not start out well for LAD and everyone was laying bets as to when Donny Baseball was going to get let go.  On June 9, 2013, the Dodgers started the day 7.5 games back of the DBacks.  It was sure to be a memorable pitching duel between Matt Magill (LAD) and Mike Minor (ATL). Okay maybe not!!! Actually Minor pitched well, while Magill…well what do you expect happened?  The Dodgers were down 8-1 and a 22-year-old LHP came in to pitch for Atlanta.  He had a quirky delivery that I became fascinated with.  He pitched the 7^th and 8^th inning allowing 1 hit and striking out 3.  That was my first look at Alex Wood, and I have been a fan ever since.

 

On July 30, 2015, Alex Wood became a Dodger in one of the wackiest three team trades I have ever seen.

Dodgers – Alex Wood, Mat Latos, Michael Morse, Bronson Arroyo, Jim Johnson, Luis Avilan, Jose Peraza.

Miami – Victor Araujo, Jeff Brigham, Kevin Guzman

Atlanta – Hector Olivera, Paco Rodriguez, and Zach Bird

 

Wood did not have a great opening season with the Dodgers, as he hurt his foot shortly after arriving, and really got on Dodgers’ fans bad side with a poor outing in Game 3 of the NLDS against NYM.  He was linked to Brett Anderson ever since by waaaaaay too many.

 

Wood was not acquired to be the Ace, because that role was already owned by Clayton Kershaw.  #2 Co-Ace was Zach Greinke, and #3 was Brett Anderson who actually had a decent 2015 season.  Wood was a 23-year-old LHSP with 4.5 years of team control as a #4.  But yet he was judged as if he were an Ace rather than a #4.

 

For the next three years, Wood went on to post a 26-14 record with 364.1 IP, a 3.29 ERA and 1.153 WHIP.  He allowed 98 walks and struck out 352 batters.  He was a 2017 All-Star and started a critical Game 4 of the 2017 WS against Charlie Morton and the Astros.  The Dodgers were down 2 games to 1, so this was a must-win game.  He was pitching a no-hitter with 2 outs in the 6^th inning of a 0-0 game and gave up a George Springer HR and was pulled.  Brandon Morrow finished the 6^th and pitched a perfect 7^th, yielding to Tony Watson who pitched a perfect 8^th.  The Dodgers tied the game in the 7^th and exploded with 5 in the 9^th to get the crucial series tying victory.  With CK going in Game 5, who wasn’t feeling good after Game 4…with much thanks to Alex Wood.

 

Alex would also pitch the final two innings in Game 7 without surrendering a baserunner.  He had 3 Ks in those two innings.

 

While not the All Star he was in 2017, Wood was still the most dependable starter in a rotation that was never fully healthy.  He started more games than any Dodger (27) and would probably have had 30+ starts had he not been moved to the pen.

 

I can be bitter about how it all ended with Alex as a Dodger.  He will be 28 when the 2019 season starts, and instead of getting ready for the Dodgers rotation, Friedman decided that it was more important to give a QO to a 32-year-old LHSP (in March); a pitcher who pitched all of 82 innings last year and signed for $18MM, twice the projected cost of a pitcher 4 years younger.  Some will point out the loss in his velocity.  Maybe it was the change to a no wind up.  Or maybe it was just poor mechanics, and with his delivery is certainly believable.  Many called it stupid for Wood to go from the stretch, but then do not say a thing about Strasburg doing the same thing. It worked for Strasburg, but not for Wood.  He is 28 and seems more determined than ever to fix the problem.

 

No, instead I will celebrate the 3 ½ years he spent with LAD and look forward to his season pitching for the Reds, except the two times he will undoubtedly pitch against the Dodgers.

 

I will end this post with a tweet I woke up to on Saturday.

Alex Wood – 12-21-18 (Instagram)

“What a ride! The last 4 years in LA have been nothing short of amazing.  4 division titles, 2 NL Pennants, 2 World Series appearances and I couldn’t be more proud to have been a Dodger.  I gave every ounce of energy and effort I had to LA and I loved putting on that uniform every day.  Thank you to all of the fans, your passion for the Dodgers and your support for me and our team is something I’ll never forget.  Last but not least, thank you to all of my teammates.  What an awesome group of guys I’ve been able to play with the last 4 years, y’all are what made it so much fun and I will miss each of you greatly.  Here’s to new beginnings.”

 

Okay, one final item.  I have the following article archived.  Because Kyle Farmer is also included in the trade, I found going back and reading the article a great tribute to a couple of great teammates and friends.  To Yasiel, Matt, Kyle, and most of all to you Alex.  I will miss you all.

 

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20236495/dodgers-kyle-farmer-alex-wood-share-tattoo-tribute-paralyzed-former-georgia-teammate