LOS ANGELES — In spring training last year, Alex Wood frequently bumped elbows in the Dodgers’ clubhouse with David Price and Clayton Kershaw. Until the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the season, Price and Kershaw were two-fifths of the team’s starting rotation. Their track record of success includes four Cy Young Awards. Their reputation preceded them.
“Just for guys to be at that level for that long is truly remarkable in this game,” Wood said Sunday. “You just don’t see that.”
Wood, who will start Game 3 of the National League Division Series for the San Francisco Giants on Monday night, is not nearly as decorated as his former teammates. But the 30-year-old left-hander has a similarly enviable quality among his teammates in the Giants’ starting rotation: postseason experience.
On an NLDS roster without veteran Johnny Cueto, Wood’s two career playoff starts are two more than any other Giant. All but two of his 20 postseason appearances came with the Dodgers, for whom he pitched from 2015-18, then again last season after an interregnum in Cincinnati. Wood pitched two scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ championship-clinching Game 6 win in last year’s World Series.
“I’m fortunate to have been in the postseason a lot,” said Wood, who will start opposite three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer on Monday. “Every year’s different but there’s nothing better than this time of year. You really get to test yourself, separate the boys from the men. So I’m excited for another opportunity to play in the postseason and contribute to a really good ballclub.”
Before he flew into Los Angeles, Wood spent his Sunday morning at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Manager Gabe Kapler said Wood threw on the field alongside bullpen coach Craig Albernaz and pitching coach Andrew Bailey. Wood then continued to the team’s training garage, in the former players’ parking lot beyond left field, for what Kapler called “light” machine sprint work.
The 30-year-old left-hander is setting an example that Kapler hopes his team’s younger pitchers will emulate – the same example Wood once followed as a Dodger.
“The preparation is second to none,” Kapler said. “He’s thinking about a game four, five, six days out or more.”
A game against the Dodgers surely falls into the category of “or more.” Wood regularly messages his friends on the other side, but he’s limited himself this week to exchanging fantasy football advice.
On the field, the mutual familiarity with Wood could play to the advantage of either side.
For his part, Wood likes his chances.
“I think he feels he’s always the best option,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Wood, “which as Major League ballplayers, that’s a good thing.”
LEFTY LINEUP
The Dodgers will be facing a left-handed starting pitcher (Alex Wood) for the first time this postseason, prompting Roberts to change up his lineup.
Albert Pujols will start at first base (the third different player to start there for the Dodgers in this postseason). Chris Taylor will be in center field and AJ Pollock in left. Shortstop Corey Seager will be the only left-handed hitter in the starting lineup against Wood.
This will be Pujols’ first postseason start since the Angels were swept in three games by the Kansas City Royals in a 2014 American League Division Series. Pujols started 74 postseason games for the St. Louis Cardinals, who made the postseason in nine of Pujols’ 11 seasons with them.
“Albert is obviously one of the greatest hitters that ever lived,” Kapler said, “and when you have the true outliers of the outliers, they tend to defy age.”
The 41-year-old Pujols will become the oldest player to start a postseason game for the Dodgers and the oldest player to start a postseason game at a position other than pitcher or DH since Julio Franco started at first base for the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of their 2005 NLDS against the Houston Astros. Franco was 47 at the time.
Cody Bellinger will be on the bench to start the game, but he will almost certainly be used as a defensive replacement at some point in the game.
“It’s more of the mindset of giving us the best chance to get a lead, beat the starter, and we can pivot out of some things,” Roberts said. “But I think that’s kind of my mindset.”
Wood has been a fairly “neutral” pitcher throughout his career. Right-handed batters have hit .248 with a .701 OPS against him while lefties have hit .250 with a .631 OPS.
GAME FOUR
Roberts reiterated again Sunday what he told reporters before Game 2 in San Francisco – the Dodgers’ starting pitcher for Game 4 is very much undecided.
“We don’t know,” he said Sunday. “I think right now where our head is at is deploy anyone and everyone to win tomorrow night.”
Roberts has acknowledged right-hander Tony Gonsolin is a candidate to start Game 4. But the Dodgers also might go with an “opener” against a Giants team that relies heavily on platooning at multiple positions.
Kapler also said Sunday that he has not decided who will start Game 4 for his team.