Wood gets second chance with Pirates
PITTSBURGH — Brandon Wood smoked a ball to right-center field in his first-ever at-bat with the Pirates on Monday night.
Washington Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth raced into the gap at PNC Park and robbed the third baseman of extra bases.
That was rather fitting since nothing going right has been the story of Wood’s major-league career since he arrived in 2007 as the Los Angeles Angels’ shortstop of the future, four years after he was their first-round draft pick.
Wood, who the Pirates claimed off waivers last Friday, was the flop of all flops with the Angels in 494 plate appearances over the last five seasons. He hit .168 with a .197 on-base percentage and a .259 slugging percentage to go with an amazingly awful ratio of 153 strikeouts to 13 walks and 11 home runs.
Yet in 1,437 plate appearances with the Angels’ Class AAA Salt Lake farm club, Wood hit .283 with 77 homers, a .350 OBP and a .536 slugging percentage.
Wood wound up going 1-for-4 with a double as the Pirates beat the Nationals 4-2.
“I had a black cloud over my head every time I was in the big leagues with the Angels,” Wood said. “I would get 30 or 40 at-bats here or there and struggle and it was like, ‘Why isn’t this kid hitting a home run every seven at-bats?’ I always had that around my head.”
The Pirates have taken chances on plenty of former prospects since Neal Huntington became general manager in 2007. Wood, who is expected to get starts at all four infield positions, is an intriguing case, though, because he can play shortstop.
Erratic Ronny Cedeno is certainly not a shortstop who can win you a championship. The top shortstop prospect in the Pirates’ farm system is Class AAA Indianapolis’ Chase d’Arnaud and most scouts believe he is better suited to play second base.
There was a time, though, when Wood was considered one of the brightest prospects in baseball, including getting a No. 3 ranking by Baseball America prior to the 2006 season. He was also No. 8 in 2007 and No. 16 in 2008.
While Wood didn’t come close to living up to the hype with the Angels, he won’t face the same pressure with the Pirates. They are just taking a flier on him and hoping for a high reward on a low-risk move.
Wood is a likeable guy and easy to root for. There were many tears shed in the Angels’ clubhouse last week when he was designated for assignment.
“It’s hard to leave because you’re leaving your friends, but from a baseball standpoint, I came to a good place,” Wood said.
It couldn’t be worse than Anaheim.