Atlanta Braves Noon Chop: The Box, The Deal, A Death
Infielder
Jose Peraza(70) takes infield before the start of the spring training baseball game against the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports
A terrible Braves trade, right? Not so fast, my friends
[ excerpted ]
Why trade [Alex Wood]? Surely because the Braves, in all their dealing for pitching over these past nine months, have come to regard other young pitchers as better. And maybe because the Braves, seeing Wood’s complicated delivery and knowing he had Tommy John surgery while at Georgia, weren’t certain he’s built to last.
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Yes, the Braves have traded for pitchers — Mike Foltynewicz, Manny Banuelos, Chris Withrow, Max Fried, Arodys Vizcaino — who’ve had the surgery. Hart has conceded that deliveries aren’t necessarily a predictor of Tommy John. Still, Hart inherited a franchise that led all of baseball in TJ and saw two starting pitchers (Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy) undergo the procedure twice in four years. The new Braves have asked their medical staff and scouts to take a harder look at deliveries.
Check Brooks Baseball’s data for Wood. Note that his sinker — essentially his fastball — was thrown at an average of 92.52 mph in 2013, his rookie season. Note that it has been thrown at an average of 90.24 mph this season. That’s a 2.28 mph drop in velocity for a 24-year-old. Those who track pitchers’ injuries have a saying: When you see a loss of velocity, it’s usually the elbow. Sore elbows can lead to Tommy John, a second round of which is invariably a de facto sentence to the bullpen.
[ Much more at the link above. Clearly, the Dodgers are thinking differently, and this is just one man’s opinion, but maybe there’s something to it. We do know Wood is a competitor, and a good one. Weird that the Dodgers may soon have Brandon Beachy and Alex Wood together. ]
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