Alex Wood giving ray of hope to decimated Atlanta Braves pitching staff

The Atlanta Braves have had a very tough spring training in terms of injuries. They’ve already lost two of their top starting pitchers–Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy–to season-ending Tommy John surgery, a second go-round for both pitchers with that particular procedure.

But young Alex Wood, who was called up to the majors in 2013 practically straight out of his college years at the University of Georgia, has been throwing like a seasoned veteran so far this spring, and has the Braves hoping that things may not be so bleak for their starting rotation.

In the Braves 6-3 win over the Red Sox on Saturday afternoon at Champion Stadium., Wood held the Red Sox to one run over six innings, with four of his six total hits given up coming in the fourth inning.

The lefty starter upped his spring record to 2-0, with a subterranean 0.45 ERA in 20 innings pitched. He’s given up only one earned run all spring, and has WHIP (walks/hits per inning pitched) of 0.95.

If Wood can solidify himself as a good number two or three starter, the Braves may not be as desperate as they thought for starting pitching. With Julio Teheran getting the ball for the season opener, and newly acquired free-agent Ervin Santana apparently read to go, Atlanta would really only need to fill one more regular slot in the rotation after Wood, with a fifth starter only having to pitch in spot-starts.