Wood allowed one hit and struck out six over five scoreless innings in Tuesday's Cactus League win over the Dodgers.
Wood faced a lineup that consisted of about half major-leaguers. This was Wood's longest and sharpest start of the spring -- he has a 3.72 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and 13:3 K:BB across 9.2 innings through three appearances. He'll open the season near the back of the Giants' rotation, but Tuesday's outing suggests he's ready for the regular season. He may get one more tune-up during the exhibition slate before lining up to make his regular-season debut versus the White Sox.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Will be in rotation
Rotowire
Manager Gabe Kapler confirmed Wednesday that he views Wood as a starter for 2023, Evan Webeck of The San Jose Mercury News reports.
Wood is among seven potential starters in Giants camp, and there was some doubt to his role after he finished last year with a 5.10 ERA and 1.24 WHIP across 130.2 innings. He ended the season with a shoulder injury, but he was deemed healthy at the start of camp and should be able to build up as normal during spring training. Wood likely slots in toward the back of the Giants' rotation, be it a five- or six-man group at any point in the season.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Appears healthy for camp
Rotowire
Wood (shoulder) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Thursday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Wood closed the 2022 season on the 60-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement, but his ability to get back on the mound during the first week of spring training suggests that he's returned to full health. The next injury never seems to be far behind Wood, but when he's been able to enjoy a run of sustained health in the past, the veteran lefty has shown the ability to deliver fantasy-friendly numbers. While that wasn't the case in 2022 -- he finished with a career-worst 5.10 ERA in 130.2 innings -- most other underlying metrics (3.29 xFIP, 3.45 SIERA, 18.2 K-BB%) suggested that Wood pitched far better than his ERA indicated. Assuming he escapes spring training unscathed, Wood should have a spot in the San Francisco rotation and may make for an attractive late-round target in deep-league drafts or an appealing early-season streaming option in shallower formats.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Moves to 60-day IL
Rotowire
Wood (shoulder) was transferred to the 60-day injured list Monday.
Wood's move to the 60-day IL is simply procedural, as the southpaw was ruled out for the remainder of the season in mid-September. The transaction helps make room on the 40-man roster for Andrew Vasquez, whose contract was selected Monday.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Shut down for season
Rotowire
Wood (shoulder) wasn't cleared to resume throwing this weekend and was shut down for the season Sunday by the Giants, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.
The left-hander has been sidelined with a shoulder impingement since the start of September, and he won't be able to rejoin the active roster during the final weeks of the season. Wood will finish the campaign with a 5.10 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 131:30 K:BB across 130.2 innings. He's under contract for 2023 at $12.5 million, which is the final year of his deal.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Set to throw over weekend
Rotowire
Wood (shoulder) is scheduled to resume throwing this weekend, and he expects to come to a decision with the Giants about whether he'll pitch again this season based on how he fares during the session, Evan Webeck of The San Jose Mercury News reports.
Since the Giants are effectively out of the running for a playoff spot and Wood has a sketchy track record on the health front, he's not eager to push for a return in 2022 unless he's completely certain that he won't be at risk of aggravating the left shoulder impingement that landed him on the 15-day injured list Sept. 3. Even if Wood feels comfortable coming off the IL before the season ends in the first week of October, he could be limited to a bullpen role.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Improving but still being evaluated
Rotowire
Wood (shoulder) is improving but is still being evaluated, with his expected return date not yet clear, Evan Webeck of The San Jose Mercury News reports.
Wood hit the injured list with a left shoulder impingement in early September but has yet to be shut down for the year. Even with the Giants all but eliminated from postseason contention, it looks as though he has a shot to make it back for at least a start or two late in the year, though that's not guaranteed. The team is expected to go with a bullpen game when his turn comes up Sunday against the Cubs.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Out with shoulder impingement
Rotowire
Wood was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement Saturday.
Wood has been dealing with the issue for a while, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports, which may explain his 13.86 ERA over his last three starts. The move was made retroactive to Thursday, so Wood will be eligible to return Sept. 16, but the Giants haven't decided whether or not to shut him down for the season. The team has been all but eliminated from playoff contention, as it sits 10 games back of the sixth seed, so Wood may simply start his offseason early in an effort to be as healthy as possible heading into next season.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Surrenders four runs
Rotowire
Wood (8-12) allowed four earned runs on five hits and a walk while striking out five across 4.2 innings to take the loss Wednesday against the Padres.
Wood retired the first nine batters he faced, but he struggled from there to turn in a poor outing. The effort was another in a string of poor results for Wood, as he owns an 8.40 ERA across his last six starts. Despite that, he has maintained a 31:5 K:BB in the same span -- offering hope his surface stats will improve. For the season, Wood has a 5.10 ERA with 131:30 K:BB across 130.2 frames.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Punished for eight runs
Rotowire
Wood (8-11) gave up eight earned runs on six hits and no walks while striking out four over three innings to take the loss in a 9-0 defeat against the Twins on Friday.
Wood's painful month of August got worse with another miserable outing, which saw him lit up for two home runs and chased after getting only nine outs on 60 pitches. Wood now has an ERA of 8.53 in August and has given up six or more runs in three of his five appearances this month. The silver lining is that Wood doesn't walk many batters and his underlying metrics suggest that he is pitching better than his results. Wood has a 3.71 xERA and a 3.43 xFIP despite an ERA of 5.00 in 126 innings pitched this season. He is tentatively expected to make his next start against the Padres.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Lit up in loss
Rotowire
Wood (8-10) gave up seven earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three over 4.2 innings to take the loss in a 7-4 defeat against the Rockies on Friday.
Wood was pounded for seven runs in his road start at Coors Field to take his 10th loss of the season. Most the damage came on a pair of home runs by rookie Elehuris Montero, who picked up five RBI on the night. The three long balls that Wood surrendered were the most that he had given up in a game all season. Wood's 1.22 WHIP is right in line with his career average and he will look to bounce back from his worst start of the year his next time out in what is tentatively expected to be a road matchup against the Twins.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Strikes out nine in quality start
Rotowire
Wood didn't factor into the decision during Sunday's 8-7 win against the Pirates, allowing three runs on five hits and one walk with nine strikeouts in six innings.
Wood was staked to an early 5-0 lead and submitted four scoreless frames before surrendering three runs on three baserunners in the fifth. Pittsburgh would go on to mount a comeback against San Francisco's bullpen, erasing the 31-year-old from the decision despite a second-straight quality start. Wood induced an impressive 19 swinging strikes on 101 pitches en route to a season-high nine strikeouts and his 9.05 K/9 ranks 16th in MLB. He carries a 4.18 ERA and 1.19 WHIP into his next start, slated for next weekend in Colorado.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Picks up win in scoreless outing
Rotowire
Wood (8-9) yielded three hits over 6.1 shutout innings, striking out five and earning a win over the Padres on Monday.
Wood coughed up just three singles and, at one point, he retired nine consecutive batters. It was a promising start after the Dodgers piled six runs on him in his last outing. Wood lowered his ERA to 4.17 alongside a 110:26 K:BB through 22 starts. He's projected to face the Pirates at home this weekend.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Sleeper pitchers for Week 19 (Aug. 8-14)
Rotowire
Wood is coming off a disastrous start against the Dodgers, but the Dodgers have a way of doing that. He had a 1.65 ERA in July, has a 3.29 xFIP for the year, and will be facing the Pirates among his two starts this week.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Done in by second inning
Rotowire
Wood (7-9) took the loss during Tuesday's 9-5 defeat at the hands of the Dodgers, allowing six runs on nine hits and one walk with six strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
Wood bookended his outing with clean frames, but the middle was messy -- four runs on five baserunners in the second and additional runs in each of the next two innings. The rough start to August comes on the heels of a superb July that featured a 1.65 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 27.1 innings across five turns, and the 31-year-old struck out at least six batters for the fourth time in five starts. Wood carries a 4.42 ERA and 1.25 WHIP into his next start, tentatively scheduled for Monday against the Padres.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Holds on for win
Rotowire
Wood (7-8) allowed two runs on two hits, two walks and a hit batsman while striking out three in 6.2 innings to earn the win Thursday over the Cubs.
Wood put two runners on base in the first inning but went unscathed and carried a no-hitter in the seventh inning. He allowed a single to Ian Happ and a two-run home run to Patrick Wisdom, but that was all the scoring the Cubs mustered as Wood snapped the Giants' seven-game losing streak. The southpaw has had some uneven performances lately and ends July with eight runs allowed (five earned) in 27.1 innings across five starts. For the season, he's pitched to a 4.11 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 99:25 K:BB in 100.2 innings in 20 outings. He's tentatively projected for a home start versus the Dodgers next week.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Sleeper pitchers for Week 17 (July 25-31)
Rotowire
It took half the season, but Wood has finally begun to pitch up to his peripherals, allowing a total of three earned runs in four July starts. He has an inviting matchup against a strikeout-prone Cubs lineup this week.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Labors through four innings
Rotowire
Wood (6-8) took the loss Saturday versus the Dodgers. He allowed two runs on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts in four-plus innings.
Wood needed 97 pitches (63 strikes) to complete his four frames, and he was relieved by Yunior Marte after issuing a leadoff walk to Gavin Lux in the fifth. Both runs against Wood came on solo home runs by Mookie Betts and Trea Turner in the third inning. In his last four outings, Wood has completed five innings only twice, though he's racked up 25 strikeouts across 20.2 innings in that span. The southpaw owns a 4.21 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 96:23 K:BB across 94 innings. He's projected for a favorable home start versus the Cubs next week.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Escapes with no-decision
Rotowire
Wood allowed three unearned runs on four hits and struck out seven in 4.2 innings in a no-decision versus the Brewers on Friday.
The Brewers rallied for five runs in the fifth inning, with Wood responsible for three of them, including two runners that Tyler Rogers inherited but couldn't keep from scoring. In his last three starts, Wood has allowed four runs (one earned) in 16.2 innings while racking up 19 strikeouts. He's at a 4.20 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 90:21 K:BB across 90 innings in 18 starts this year.
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Giants' Alex Wood: Possible waiver wire pickups
Rotowire
When a player continues to underperform his peripherals month after month, there does come a point where you have to let it go. But I'm not there yet with Wood, and his latest start Sunday shows why. He threw seven shutout innings on just 83 pitches, striking out eight while registering 14 swinging strikes. His ground-ball rate was as high as usual, bringing his xFIP down to 3.20. His FIP and xERA also paint a much rosier picture than his 4.43 ERA. Durability remains an issue -- this was only his third start of six-plus innings -- but if he begins pitching up to his peripherals, it'll change. He went six-plus 10 times last year.
