DENVER – The Braves optioned left-hander Alex Wood to Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday not just to open a roster spot for reliever Jordan Walden to be activated from the disabled list, but to have Wood get "stretched out" and ready to start again.
Wood will go to Gwinnett to work as a starter, which seems to indicate the Braves’ intention to trade a starter before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. They want to trade for at least one more experienced reliever to bolster a bullpen that’s not been up to the Braves’ standards of recent seasons.
“It’s bittersweet, I guess, if that’s the way you want to describe it,” said Wood, who will start Friday for Gwinnett. “But if that’s what’s best for the ballclub, I’ll just continue playing my part…. I think part of it is they want me in the rotation, however that happens, whenever that happens. It’s one of those things where you just kind of have to let it play out.”
Wood is scheduled to throw 60 pitches in his first start, then 75 and 90 in his next two. He could be ready to come up at any point after that or even before if the Braves have an injury or opening in the rotation.
“We had a great conversation,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said after telling Wood the plan. “There comes a point in time where you’ve got to do what’s best for the individual, the organization and your team. And we need him to go down and stretch out. There’s no timetable, I told him, but he’s a big piece of our team and our future. We did it with (Kris) Medlen (at midseason in 2012) and got him stretched out and then brought him back.”
Veteran starters Gavin Floyd or Aaron Harang, both on one-year contracts, could be candidates to be traded in such a scenario, with Floyd seemingly more likely because of his $4 million salary and incentives that could be worth at least $3 million more if he stays in the rotation the rest of the season.
Harang has a $1 million salary and incentives worth a maximum of $1 million more if he makes 25 starts. He gets $250,00 each for making 10, 15, 20 and 25 starts.
The Braves have not said anything about trading a starter, and Gonzalez was vague about the short-term plans when he talked to Wood and later when speaking with reporters.
“The way the major league season goes, he (Wood) will come back at some point and help us in the rotation,” Gonzalez said. “That’s just the way it is. Somebody will have a hangnail or something.”
Wood is 5-7 with a 3.30 ERA and .268 opponents’ average in 18 starts over two seasons, compared with a 3.16 ERA and .265 opponents’ average in 31 relief appearances. He’s been largely effective in both roles, but the Braves project him as a long-term starter and have already seen what he can do when he’s part of the rotation for significant periods.
“I said it’s not good for your own development to pitch 1 1/3 innings (as a reliever) and see your (secondary) pitches deteriorate,” Gonzalez said of his discussion Tuesday with Wood. “All of a sudden his changeup is not as good as it was when he first came up because he’s not been able to throw it, and his breaking ball is kind of inconsistent because he hasn’t been able to work on it on the side, and that kind of stuff. And so we made that decision this morning.”
A second-round pick out of the University of Georgia two years ago, Wood went 3-2 with a 3.54 ERA in 11 starts as a rookie in 2013, including 2-0 with an 0.90 ERA in five starts in August while allowing one homer and three runs in 30 innings, with 28 strikeouts and nine walks.
He also had a 2.08 ERA in 20 relief appearances as a rookie, going back and forth between roles according to the Braves’ needs based on the health of other starters. He began the 2014 season in the rotation after other starters got hurt during spring training, then moved to the bullpen when Floyd came off the disabled list in May.
Wood had a 1.54 ERA in his first five starts this season, racking up 35 strikeouts in 35 innings over that span, including an eight-inning complete game in 1-0 loss at Philadelphia. Then he gave up 10 hits and seven runs in five innings of a loss on Miami on April 29 in his sixth start, and after one more start Wood was replaced by Floyd and moved to the bullpen to give the Braves a second left-hander and long reliever.
Since they also have David Hale in the bullpen capable of going multiple innings, the Braves decided they would be better served with Wood going back to build up for a starting role again.
“We have such a good rotation this year,” Wood said. “They probably want me to be a part of it just to kind of have really my first 150-, 160-, 170-inning season going into next year, I would think. I feel like next year, hopefully, I will have solidified my spot in the rotation. That’s what I’d like to think. That’s what I’m working for.”
Walden ready to go
The Braves welcomed the return of Walden, who had a 2.92 ERA and .178 opponents’ average in 14 appearances, with 19 strikeouts and six walks in 12 1/3 inings, before landing on the 15-DL with a strained left hamstring.
Opponents hit .125 in a stretch of 10 scoreless appearances against the hard-throwing setup man before he allowed two runs and a homer May 4 against the Giants in his final appearances before he was DL’d.
“I had a couple of outings down there and I felt really good,” said Walden, who had five strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings of two relief appearances at Triple-A Gwinnett, while allowing one walk and a homer. He said the hamstring was still sore when he threw a bullpen session nearly two weeks ago.
“But the games I threw in Gwinnett I didn’t feel it at all,” he said. “Just glad to be back.”
