Although there have been a handful of pitchers to make spot starts in recent days, the Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation had largely taken shape for what’s expected come the regular season.
It’s of course led by Clayton Kershaw, who’s scheduled to make a franchise-record eighth start on Opening Day. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed over the weekend that Kershaw will be followed by Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu in the rotation.
The order is one that largely could’ve been predicted. Wood is coming off an All-Star campaign, and Maeda is slotted so as to break up the quartet of left-handers.
Nonetheless, that he’s following Kershaw in the rotation is humbling for Wood, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“To start the season behind Clayton (Kershaw) is obviously a great honor,” Wood said. “To be on a team as good as we are and to throw second behind the greatest pitcher of our generation is pretty cool.”
The 27-year-old put forth another stellar effort this spring, as he tossed five shutout innings against the Oakland Athletics. He allowed four hits, and finished with seven strikeouts against two walks.
Wood has allowed just four runs on 10 hits in his four Cactus League starts this year. He’s tallied 16 strikeouts and walked five batters in 12.1 innings pitched over that span. Wood also dominated in a ‘B’ game, when he allowed just one hit and had six strikeouts in five scoreless innings.
He appears to be adjusting well to a change that now has the southpaw exclusively pitching out of the stretch. Wood downplayed the shift, stressed he was focused on establishing a rhythm and tempo, and thus far has benefitted from his decision.
