Dodgers: Dave Roberts Officially Names Final Starter in the Rotation
With the announcement that Clayton Kershaw will be getting the ball on the Dodgers’ Opening Day also came the official naming of the starting rotation. Dave Robers had already officially named the first four, and with the news came number five. Alex Wood has been awarded the final spot in a prestigious Los Angeles rotation.
Dave Roberts announced that Clayton Kershaw will start opening day.
The rest of the rotation, in order: Walker Buehler, David Price, Julio Urías, and Alex Wood.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) March 9, 2020
Wood took to the media on his own earlier in Spring Training to say that he was already named the fifth starter. That was news to Dodgers’ media, as Dave Roberts had not made anything official until today.
Wood returned to the Dodgers on a one-year deal worth $4 million. Los Angeles originally sent him to the Reds in a trade along with Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, and Kyle Farmer that resulted in a haul of prospects and salary relief.
In his career, Wood has been much more effective out of the bullpen than he has as a starter. Across 50 innings of relief work, Wood possesses an earned run average of 2.70 and a much higher strikeout rate. Wood was instrumental in Los Angeles’ 2017 World Serie run, starting two games for them and also pitching in relief. Across 12.1 innings of work in the 2017 playoffs, Wood allowed 4 earned runs and held hitters to a .122 batting average.
The Dodgers’ current rotation now consists of Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, David Price, Julio Urias, and Alex Wood. That is four left-handed arms in the starting rotation.
NEXT: Dave Roberts Acknowledges Lack of Balance in Lefty Heavy Rotation
OH Really? Too many left handed starters. Well why don’t we sit the best pitcher this spring who by the way is a right hander. Tony G. That’s a Roberts decision. And let’s keep Kenley as closer because he mowed down single A players this spring. That’s Roberts for ya!
It’s a FO call. Managers don’t run teams anymore, they collaborate and are hired and agree to those conditions. Friedman wouldn’t have brought in guys like Wood, Nelson etc if they didn’t want to block Tony and Dustin. In the past a manager could fully unleash these 2 up and coming young starters to see what they got but the FO wants to limit them and use them in other roles while making occasional spot starts and take over for injuries. I don’t agree with this I think the time is now for them to start their development as big league starters
Give it a rest… Wait for the season to start because most of us are tired of the off-season RAG ON THE DODGERS movement.
Why not wait and see what happens. I agree they need another fight handed starter to top heavy left handed.
It wont matter we won’t have a season as the virus kills us all.