Dodgers #3 Starter: Alex Wood or Brett Anderson?

October 2, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Alex Wood (57) pitches the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Alex Wood (with Dodgers)- 5-6, 4.35 ERA (4.10 FIP), 1.265 WHIP, 8.4 H/9, .9 HR/9, 2.9 BB/9, 6.3 K/9

I had to dig a bit to find out why Wood’s numbers declined so much as a Dodger. His Dodger ERA and FIP were .81 and .65 higher than they were as a Brave, but he also gave up less hits and baserunners per nine and struck out slightly fewer batters per nine. Then, the xFIPs jumped out at me. xFIP is basically his fielding independent pitching if he had an average HR/FB rate, usually right around 10 percent. His xFIP as a Brave was 4.02, which is quite a jump from his sub-3.60 ERA and FIP. As a Dodger, while the ERA and FIP rose, his xFIP declined to 3.71.

Homers aside, as a Dodger Wood fared much better at Dodger Stadium than he did on the road. In five home starts as a Dodger, Wood only gave up nine runs and walked five batters while striking out 25. In seven road starts, Wood gave up 25 earned runs and walked 18 batters while only striking out 24. Those numbers are skewed by two stinkers Wood threw, one in Arizona where he gave up six runs in under two innings and one in Colorado where he gave up eight in five innings. Other than those two starts, Wood only gave up more than three runs once, but he pitched better and deeper into games at Dodger Stadium.

Wood also hasn’t had a lot of success against the Mets in the past, as he owns a 4.35 ERA in just under 40 career innings against them. He also has a 4.56 ERA in 23 2/3 career innings at Citi Field against much different looking Mets lineups.

Next: Brett Anderson's Case