Braves left-handed pitcher Alex Wood says he didn’t feel the cuticle on his left index finger split Tuesday afternoon during his first career start in the major leagues.
Wood said his adrenaline was going and that it wasn’t until blood dripped from his finger in the second inning of the Braves’ 4-3 loss in Game 1 of a doubleheader with the New York Mets that he even noticed something was wrong.
Wood, a former Georgia Bulldogs standout, lasted three innings and threw 73 pitches (38 strikes). He struck out five, allowed one run, two hits, three walks and a balk in his seventh major league game
“It wasn’t like painful or bothering me or anything like that,” Wood said. “It was just the blood that was making the ball a little slick when I was throwing my breaking ball. It wasn’t really that big of a deal.”
Manager Fredi Gonzalez said the Braves wanted to limit Wood to between 75-95 pitches and that it was a borderline call whether he would have continued had the finger not been injured.
Wood said he could have continued to pitch despite the finger issue. However, he mentioned that it might have affected his pitch selection.
“When I faced those lefties in the third, I probably would have thrown a breaking ball or two to them,” said Wood, whose previous six major league appearances were in relief. “But we decided to stick to the change-up, and if we really needed a breaking ball, we would have thrown it.”
The problem began in the second inning and persisted through the third. Wood said the issue has cropped up before, but it didn’t hamper his performance in Double-A, where he posted a 1.26 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 57 innings over 10 starts.
“When I was starting, I was throwing 10-15 breaking balls in a game,” Wood said. “You’re throwing it so much that it kind of (callused) on the top of my finger. Now that it’s been a couple of weeks, it’s probably gotten a little soft just because I’m not throwing as much as I was before. It’s one of those things that you have to keep an eye on and watch it, but it shouldn’t be a big deal at all.”
Wood noted that his command was off and attributed much of that to not adjusting to his temporary pair of metal-rimmed Oakley glasses. He has an astigmatism, and the problem is so bad that catchers had to blatantly show signs while he was in college and the minors.
Wood expected to have a custom-made pair of Oakley prescription sports glasses waiting for him when the Braves returned from the San Diego trip, but he has yet to receive them. The heat and humidity didn’t help matters Tuesday, as the glasses became wet and would shake during his follow-through.
“My glasses were bothering me a little bit today, and they fell off a couple of times,” he said. “I finally just put them in my back pocket. I was right back to pumping strikes and getting ahead. … I’m also going to try some contacts and see how that works. It’s definitely been an adjustment for me with those glasses, and I think it has affected my command a little bit.”
Catcher Gerald Laird noticed Wood’s command issues.
“He threw the ball fine. He’s a little bit erratic with his command, but he’s young, he’s still learning,” Laird said. “But I think he did a good job.”
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