2015 Dodgers review: Alex Wood

The Dodgers acquired a ready-made young starting pitcher in Alex Wood as part of their three-team, 13 player trade with Atlanta and Miami on July 30. The immediate results of that trade were rather underwhelming, but Wood and infielder Jose Peraza will have a chance to duel to see which one will provide the most long-term impact of that transaction.

What went right

Wood made five starts at Dodger Stadium after joining the Dodgers, and all five were quality starts, with a 2.41 ERA, a 3.25 FIP, a 20.2-percent strikeout rate and a 4-percent walk rate.

With the Dodgers, Wood was very effective against left-handed batters, holding them to hitting just .174/.208/.261 with 17 strikeouts — a 23.3-percent strikeout rate — and just three walks in 73 plate appearances.

In his 12 starts with the Dodgers, batters were at Wood's mercy the first two times through the batting order, hitting .246/.299/.364 with a 2.79 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

What went wrong

Wood made seven starts on the road after joining the Dodgers, and just one was a quality start, with a 6.14 ERA, a 4.88 FIP, a 14.3-percent strikeout rate and a 10.7-percent walk rate.

Facing batters the third and fourth times through the batting order, Wood had trouble, allowing batters to hit .273/.364/.500 with nearly as many walks (nine) as strikeouts (10).

There were only three times in 2015 that a Dodgers starter allowed eight or more runs, and Wood accounted for two of them. He allowed eight runs while recording five outs in Arizona on Sept. 6, then allowed eight runs while pitching into the sixth inning at Colorado on Sept. 27.

The season as a whole for Wood saw his strikeout rate decrease from 24.2 percent in 2013-2014 combined (14th among 136 major league pitchers with at least 200 innings in that span) down to 17.4 percent in 2015 (100th among 141 pitchers with at least 100 innings).

He allowed four runs in two innings in mop-up relief in his only playoff appearance with the Dodgers, in Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Mets.

2015 particulars

Age: 24

Stats: 5-6, 4.35 ERA, 4.10 FIP in 12 starts, 49 K, 23 BB, 70⅓ IP, 0.2 rWAR, 0.6 fWAR

Salary: $520,000, of which the Dodgers were responsible for roughly $190,000.

Game of the year

Wood was dominant on Sept. 16 at home against the Rockies, allowing only one single in eight scoreless innings, with five strikeouts. The one hit came with two outs in the second inning, then Wood retired his final 19 batters faced. Wood was remarkably efficient, with only 78 pitches thrown.

Roster status

With two years, 123 days of major league service time, Wood fell exactly one week short of "Super Two" status this winter. That means three years of salary arbitration for Wood rather than four, starting in 2017, with 2016 as another year of close to the major league minimum salary.

Wood has at least four years before qualifying for free agency, and has three option years remaining.