Dodgers: Alex Wood dominating for red-hot Giants is beyond frustrating

Heading into 2021, Los Angeles Dodgers fans surely thought that the fierce rivalry with the San Francisco Giants would begin to fizzle as the San Diego Padres took centerstage after their wild offseason.

After all, the Giants have been among the worst teams in baseball since 2017. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2016 and have had a winning percentage below .440 over the last four years.

But not in 2021! San Fran is a shocking 15-8 to start the year, which is good for first place in the NL West (tied with the injury-ravaged Dodgers).

They’re tied for the sixth-most home runs (29), have the second-best ERA (2.81), best WHIP (1.06) and the best defense (.993 fielding percentage) in MLB.

What? How?

And former Dodger Alex Wood is among those leading the charge in the pitching department.

Ex-Dodgers starter Alex Wood has been the San Francisco Giants’ ace.

Well, he’s only made two starts, so let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. But in those two starts, he’s pitched 12 innings while allowing just one earned run on five hits and a walk (both against the Miami Marlins).

Truth be told, the Dodgers took Wood off his trajectory when they traded him to the Cincinnati Reds. He was an All-Star with LA in 2017 as a starter, had a rock solid 2018, was traded to Cincy before flaming out there, and then returned to the Dodgers in 2020, only to be used as a reliever, which didn’t go well.

The best the Dodgers could do for him was use him as depth option out of the ‘pen, in which he’d make starts from time to time or come in for long relief. So he went to the Giants, and now he’s looking like 2017 Alex Wood through two outings.

But forget about Wood. How are the GIANTS out-pitching the Dodgers so far in 2021? Kevin Gausman, Johnny Cueto, Aaron Sanchez and Anthony DeSclafani have been unbelievable, and even Logan Webb has a serviceable 4.03 ERA in his five games. Add Wood into the mix — if he’s going to pitch to even 70% to his 2017 abilities — and the Giants could be a pesky thorn in the Dodgers’ side this year.

Former Dodgers executive Farhan Zaidi, who’s running the show in San Fran now, likely knows what he’s doing, even if it’s taken him a couple of years to find his footing. And it appears LA might have to worry about two division opponents nipping at their heels amid their title defense, which is something just about nobody forecasted heading into the new year.

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