Wood dominating thanks to delivery change

After Alex Wood got off to a rough start this season, it seemed like more of the same. After all, he’d won over few supporters after arriving from Atlanta in last year’s controversial Hector Olivera /Mat Latos trade, and after allowing five runs in five innings to Colorado on April 24, his career ERA with the Dodgers stood at 4.73. He had arrived at camp without a guaranteed rotation spot and, it seemed, was holding one only until one of the several injured starters returned.

But a funny thing has happened since that start. Wood has become a totally different pitcher, which is to say he has been completely, absolutely, dominating. Just look at the massive change in performance when you split his season roughly in half:

First four starts: 6.00 ERA, 12/11 K/BB in 21 innings, 90 mph exit velocityLast five starts: 2.67 ERA, 43/5 K/BB in 30 1/3 innings, 83.2 mph exit velocity

That’s not just a small change; that’s an enormous change, particularly when it comes to strikeouts. Look where Wood, who faces Jason Hammel and the Cubs on Monday after being pushed back from his scheduled Friday start due to a sore triceps, ranks in strikeout percentage among all big leaguers over the last 30 days, per FanGraphs:

Top strikeout rates, last 30 days

1. Clayton Kershaw, 38.7 percent 2. Jose Fernandez, 37.4 percent 3. Max Scherzer, 36.6 percent 4. Wood, 36.4 percent 5. Stephen Strasburg, 34.2 percent

Now, without question, we’re dealing with small samples, and just about anything can happen in a few starts. Yet …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com