Alex Wood bounced between the minors and majors a couple of times as a Braves rookie, then from the Braves’ bullpen to the starting rotation last summer and back to the bullpen in the September playoff race.
So he knows how quickly things can change and that he shouldn’t assume anything at this stage of his career, even though he went 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA in five August starts.
That’s the attitude the former University of Georgia left-hander took into a rigorous offseason workout regimen and how he’s approaching his second big-league spring training. The Braves haven’t told the kid with the live arm and funky delivery whether he’s more likely to begin the season as a starter or reliever.
“I wasn’t really sure at the beginning what to expect in terms of role and all that, so I just went up there and tried to control things I could control,” said Wood, who worked out all winter with Freddie Freeman, Dan Uggla, Kris Medlen and other Atlanta-area major leaguers at highly regarded trainer Ryan Goldin’s G.A.T.A. gym in Duluth.
“I worked as hard as I could, to come in with a chip on my shoulder and try to win a job. I’m excited to get started.”
As long as Brandon Beachy is healthy, the Braves will have one opening in the rotation to start the season, and Gavin Floyd is expected to come off the disabled list and take a rotation spot as soon as May after his rehab from Tommy John surgery.
Wood and veteran Freddy Garcia are candidates for the open rotation spot, and either could be used in the bullpen. The Braves have one lefty reliever, Luis Avilan, until Jonny Venters returns from the DL, likely in May or June after he completes rehab from a second Tommy John surgery.
If the Braves use Wood in the bullpen to begin the season, they could more easily monitor his innings. He pitched 143 innings last season in the majors and minors, including two division-series relief appearances.
Braves general manager Frank Wren has said Wood would get stretched out this spring as if to start, but it didn’t mean he necessarily would be used in that role.
“We’ll see when the spring schedule is posted,” Wood said. “I’ve got the mindset that I’m going to start. We haven’t discussed any of that yet. Obviously they’ll have my best interests in mind.”
A second-round pick in the June 2012 draft, Wood pitched in only 13 minor league games before 2013, when he dominated Double-A hitters in 10 starts to earn a promotion to the majors. After posting a 2.45 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 22 innings over 16 big-league games, including one start, he moved to the rotation in late July.
Wood was knocked around in his first two starts, but held hitters to a .190 average with three runs in 30 innings in August. When he faltered in early September, allowing seven 11 runs in seven innings of his first two starts and getting ejected for arguing with an umpire in his third, it was back to the bullpen.
Manager Fredi Gonzalez was asked Friday about Wood’s role.
“We didn’t tell him anything (in spring training) last year, and 2 1/2 months into the season he was helping us win a division,” Gonzalez said. “Obviously he knows what’s going on — he reads the newspapers and the blogs and the tweets, I’m sure. But he’s got a real good chance to make this club, whether as a starter or if we decide to put him in the bullpen. I don’t think stuff like that bothers Woody too much.”
Minor leaguer suspended: Braves minor league catcher Orrin Sears was suspended 50 games after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He hit .247 with one homer and 22 strikeouts in 81 at-bats for the Gulf Coast rookie-league affiliate. The 22-year-old Arizona native tested positive for metabolites of methandienone.
