Dodgers Rumors: Which pitcher should be cut from the starting rotation

3. Alex Wood

Chance of leaving the rotation: 0%

The fact that Alex Wood, on the Dodgers depth chart, is listed as the fifth pitcher in the starting rotation absolutely baffles me. Wood does not deserve to be the caboose of the rotation, in fact, I think he is the most viable option to be the second arm behind Clayton Kershaw. Wood has played up to his massive ceiling, and should never return to his initial home in the Dodgers bullpen.

Wood’s stat line is absolutely incredible. Despite not even throwing the qualified amount of innings, Wood ranks fifth in all of baseball in wins above replacement. If we average his WAR out to the amount of innings Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale have thrown, he would have a 2.8 WAR. That would be second only behind Chris Sale.

Wood is undefeated thus far this season, holding a 5-0 record. This is due to his 1.88 ERA average and 10.88 strikeouts for every nine innings. This is with two blemishes on his record as well. Obviously, we cannot assume he would be perfect, but outside of his two four-run games, Wood has had a 0.27 ERA.

There have only been nine earned runs scored off of Wood, eight of which occurred over two blunder games. It is incredible how well Wood has done, and if he continues putting together these numbers, we could even see his name in Cy Young contention.

It is absolutely ridiculous to have Wood slotted as the fifth starting pitcher in the Dodgers rotation. At only 26 years old Wood is becoming something special, and should stay in the starting rotation.