Wood to start Thurday/DRH to Louisville

[nemesis]

Travis Wood is not in Durham tonight. All of the players have arrived.

Per Twitter.

So there you go. Wood get's his shot. I realistically think he goes 6 and gives up 4 against the Cubs. Wrigley has it's mystique and for a 1st big league start it could be a bit nerve wracking.

[OnBaseMachine]

Love the decision to reward Wood with the start. He deserves it. For those unfamiliar with Wood, he's a 22 year old lefty who was drafted in the second round of the 2005 draft. He's listed at 5-foot-11, 165 pounds and throws 88-91 mph, a cutter, and a plus changeup. His changeup has been described as one of the best changeups in all of the minor leagues. IIRC, he learned the cutter from Cliff Lee before last season (Wood, like Lee, is from Arkansas). He has been nothing but dominant since learning to throw a cutter because it gave him a pitch to get right handed hitters out with.

Wood was the Reds minor league pitcher of the year last season after posting a 1.77 ERA with 53 BB/135 K between Double-A and Triple-A. So far this season Wood has a 3.12 ERA and 23 BB/97 K in 98 innings with Triple-A Louisville. His last eight starts have been particularly dominant with a 1.62 ERA and 11 BB/56 K during that stretch (55.2 innings).

Congrats to Travis on getting the call.

[Blitz Dorsey]

I like this very much. He will definitely be a better option than LeCure was who clearly does not have big league stuff.

[nemesis]

I like this very much. He will definitely be a better option than LeCure was who clearly does not have big league stuff.

He does, but, if he is to find success in the Majors it has to be out of the bullpen. His stuff might fool you once, but second or third time through they really lock in on him... as for Wood he does have the stuff to be successful in the Majors.

[RedsManRick]

I think Wood might as well consider this an audition. Volquez will be taking the spot in a few weeks.

[membengal]

My only wish remains that the debut were tomorrow against the lefty heavy Phillies and spare Harang having to deal with that. And give Harang an extra day of rest and the righty heavy Cubs to aim at.

[Falls City Beer]

They've got to find out who's going to take Leake's spot. The league's got a book on him, and they need to taper his innings soon. He looks kind of wiped.

MLB is *hard*.

[11larkin11]

My only wish remains that the debut were tomorrow against the lefty heavy Phillies and spare Harang having to deal with that. And give Harang an extra day of rest and the righty heavy Cubs to aim at.

I think thats overplaying the L/R thing. Its the kids MLB debut. You can't make him face the defending NL champs against Roy Halladay.

[fearofpopvol1]

They've got to find out who's going to take Leake's spot. The league's got a book on him, and they need to taper his innings soon. He looks kind of wiped.

MLB is *hard*.

I think it's a little early to assume all that. Leake has walked a lot of batters tonight. He cuts out those walks...it might be 3-4 runs he's given up instead of 6.

[Falls City Beer]

I think it's a little early to assume all that. Leake has walked a lot of batters tonight. He cuts out those walks...it might be 3-4 runs he's given up instead of 6.

His last several starts he's been pretty clobbered. Probably a combo of tiredness/league's educating themselves. Not a criticism. Just likely. Whatever the case, they've got to figure out how to limit his innings. What better way than to bring up Wood?

[Rojo]

They've got to find out who's going to take Leake's spot. The league's got a book on him, and they need to taper his innings soon. He looks kind of wiped.

MLB is *hard*.

Yeah but Wood's a kid too.

[WVRed]

Love the decision to reward Wood with the start. He deserves it. For those unfamiliar with Wood, he's a 22 year old lefty who was drafted in the second round of the 2005 draft. He's listed at 5-foot-11, 165 pounds and throws 88-91 mph, a cutter, and a plus changeup. His changeup has been described as one of the best changeups in all of the minor leagues. IIRC, he learned the cutter from Cliff Lee before last season (Wood, like Lee, is from Arkansas). He has been nothing but dominant since learning to throw a cutter because it gave him a pitch to get right handed hitters out with.

Wood was the Reds minor league pitcher of the year last season after posting a 1.77 ERA with 53 BB/135 K between Double-A and Triple-A. So far this season Wood has a 3.12 ERA and 23 BB/97 K in 98 innings with Triple-A Louisville. His last eight starts have been particularly dominant with a 1.62 ERA and 11 BB/56 K during that stretch (55.2 innings).

Congrats to Travis on getting the call.

Since you mentioned it, how do you think Wood compares to Cliff Lee? Lee has a height advantage on Wood, but given the cutter, do you think best case scenario Wood could have that type of success?

[Falls City Beer]

Yeah but Wood's a kid too.

Sure. But he's only being asked to pitch a 1/2 season, if that. See what he can do before the league catches up to him. Save the lumps-taking for next year. Rotate through the "depth" if you're not going to add an ace.

[TRF]

Sure. But he's only being asked to pitch a 1/2 season, if that. See what he can do before the league catches up to him. Save the lumps-taking for next year. Rotate through the "depth" if you're not going to add an ace.

Thats a helluva idea. And I agree. Volquez takes Leake's spot, Wood takes LeCure/Bailey's spot.

[fearofpopvol1]

His last several starts he's been pretty clobbered. Probably a combo of tiredness/league's educating themselves. Not a criticism. Just likely. Whatever the case, they've got to figure out how to limit his innings. What better way than to bring up Wood?

His last start against Oakland was quite good. He did have 2 consecutive bad starts against LA and San Fran, but that's far from conclusive, even with tonight IMO.