By Hal McCoy
FOXSportsOhio.com
March 8, 2011
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- If baseball knowledge can be absorbed through osmosis, then Cincinnati Reds pitcher Travis Wood hopes he worked out over the winter with his pores wide open.
Wood and Philadelphia pitcher Cliff Lee, both left-handers, live five minutes apart near Alexander, Ark., and spent the last couple of winters working out together.
Wood, 24, was a rookie last season and this spring is trying to carve a starting spot for himself at the back end of the Reds' rotation. Lee, 32, is an embedded and established superstar signed over the winter by the pitch-rich Philadelphia Phillies (102-61 in nine major-league seasons).
"We've worked out the last couple of winters nearly every day," said Wood. "We talk some baseball, but mostly it's work."
Wood's work day Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals was three innings, two runs, five hits, two walks and two strikes outs. The two runs came on a two-run home run by Billy Butler after Wood walked Melky Cabrera.
Wood's work the second half of last season (5-4, 3.51 ERA in 17 starts with the bullpen blowing three wins) made him an odds-on to be the only southpaw in the Reds' rotation this season and he has done nothing this spring to downgrade himself.
When Wood faced the Phillies last year -- while his buddy, Lee, worked for Texas -- Wood matched zeros with Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay and the two teams were tied, 0-0, after nine, with Wood giving up two hits. He didn't get the win, becoming the first pitcher in franchise history to throw a two-hit shutout over nine innings and not get a win.
Now he has visions of facing Lee, mano y mano.
"I'd love that, just love it," said Wood with a broad smile.
So would manager Dusty Baker, who envisions Wood and the Reds beating Lee and the Phillies.
"I look forward to the day they hook up. Master versus pupil," Said Baker. "I want the student to beat the teacher, that's all. Or at least match the teacher and we can do the rest. That can nothing but help to have a great pitcher like Lee working as your mentor, a guy you are competing against and talking to on a daily basis. That's huge."
Baker said he sees the same solid stuff this spring that he witnessed last season, with a dash of confidence stirred into the mixture.
"Same guy," said Baker. "He's no secret, that's for sure. And he came in this spring the same way he left last season. He left throwing great and he came in ready. He's confident.
"Last year we heard about his walks and overthrowing," Baker added. "It's the opposite now. He is more relaxed, but he is a guy who doesn't take anything for granted. He is looking good, looking great. He works hard, too. You watch him and he is the same guy every day - a leader of the pack when we're doing exercises and sprints."
While Wood more or less takes working out with Lee as a couple of Arkansas guys helping each other out, he more considers his experience last year as his guiding beacon.
"Absolutely that gave me confidence, being able to come up (from the minors) and have some success," said Wood, the team's No. 2 draft pick in 2005 out of Bryant (Ark.) High School. "It knocks out some of the nerves. Now I'll be able to go out and face some of the guys I've faced already."
Wood probably pitched his way off the roster last spring, losing out to Mike Leake because too many walks surfaced. But when he arrived in Cincinnati in July when the Reds shut down Leake to preserve his arm, Wood re-discovered the laser light precision he displayed in the minors.
"I probably put a little extra pressure on myself last spring," he said. "Walks do happen, but you try to minimize them and make every pitch count."
Wood wasn't the only pitching success story Tuesday while the Reds defeated the Royals, 5-2.
Veteran left-hander Dontrelle Willis, trying to squeeze into the team's bullpen, displayed his second straight antiseptic outing: two perfect innings, three strikeouts.
"The good thing is that Dontrelle is throwing his breaking ball for strikes at will, throwing his breaking ball as good as he used to do," said Baker.
Sam LeCure, who was up-and-down several times between Louisville and Cincinnati last year like a standard Duncan yo-yo as a fill-in starter (and filled in well) also was sharp Tuesday. He gave up no runs on two hits with four strikeouts over two innings.
The offensive show was provided by lead-off hitter Drew Stubbs -- a man with speed and a man with power. On this day it was power, a long three-run home run in the third that turned Wood's 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
