TAMPA – The Braves were pleasantly surprised when hard-throwing left-hander Alex Wood from the University of Georgia was still available when it was their turn to pick in the second round of the June draft. Wood was surprised, too, though pleasant would not be the correct adjective.
Whatever disappointment he felt over falling to the second round and 85th overall selection – he thinks his unorthodox delivery had something to do with it -- was soon replaced by excitement over being drafted by the Braves, whom the Charlotte, N.C., native had become a big fan of since arriving on the UGA campus.
Eight months later, Wood couldn’t be happier with how things have gone, nor could the Braves. They’ve been impressed by the energetic lefty, who has continued the momentum of his splendid half-season at Class-A Rome by pitching three scoreless innings with two hits allowed over his first three appearances in major league spring training.
Not bad for a kid who turned 22 in January and was beginning his redshirt sophomore season in Athens a year ago. Wood figures in the Braves’ future starting-rotation plans, but if they need him to relieve at some point sooner, he's showing he could do that.
“He’s an interesting guy,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He’s a left-hander with a funky delivery, but he’s got stuff. It’s not like he’s going to try to trick you with his delivery. He’s got a 93-, 94-mph fastball that dives and sinks and does all kinds of stuff. And a good changeup.”
His fastball has topped out at 95 mph and he's shown an improved curveball, which he said has become a better pitch since he got to training camp because of tips from Braves relievers Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters.
“I’m probably throwing the best, most consistent breaking ball I’ve ever thrown right now,” said Wood, who had a 2.22 ERA in 13 starts at Rome with 52 strikeouts and 14 walks in 52-2/3 innings. “I just started throwing a spike curveball in this camp. Just from talking to Jonny and Craig and them showing me how to grip it. It’s a breaking ball I can kind of throw the heck out of. That’s what I’ve been kind of searching for.
“I’ve been throwing it for about two weeks now and it’s pretty amazing, the difference just that little change has been for me.”
Wood went on. He’s enthusiastic, whether soaking up instruction in workouts or answering a reporter’s questions.
“I try to write down stuff every day in my journal” at spring training, he said. “That’s one of those things that’s going to help take me to the next level, where I’m trying to go. So I’m real excited about it…. They probably get annoyed because sometimes I ask a lot of questions. All the guys are great and they answer anything I ask. That’s definitely paying off.
“That could be career-changing for me, starting to develop that breaking ball.”
He’s a wiry 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, and hitters say Wood’s delivery makes it hard to pick up the ball because of all the loose motion in his elbows and long arms as he comes uncoiled from a bit of a crouch. He throws hard and throws inside, with sweeping pitches that make for uncomfortable at-bats for right-handed hitters.
“It’s just kind of how I grew up pitching,” he said. “To people that don’t know much about baseball – and to people who do know about baseball – it looks funny. But when you break down my mechanics, I’m very mechanically sound, in terms of being at the right places at the right time, my arm being above my shoulder…
“When I was going through the draft process, it’s funny because you see hitters with all different ways of hitting and it doesn’t matter. But people care so much about pitchers having unconventional ways of getting to where they need to be. With pitchers it’s made out to be such a bigger deal than it is with hitters. I guess it comes with the territory. It’s not something I’m worried about, and neither are the Braves.”
Gonzalez believes the delivery is an asset for Wood, who has three walks and two strikeouts in three Grapefruit League appearances. He pitched perfect inning against the Yankees in his Feb. 23 debut, and induced a game-ending double-play grounder for a save Monday against the Mets after allowing a single and a walk.
“When we played the Yankees I wasn’t facing Cano or any of those big-name guys,” he said, “but all these guys are at big-league camp, and most of the guys have been playing for several years, been up and down between the bigs and Triple-A or they are upper-end (prospects). I got the confidence that I could go out there and compete with all these other real talented guys from these other teams. It’s definitely been a real confidence booster.”
