Chicago Cubs' Wood has seen it all, can do it all
SAN FRANCISCO - Travis Wood is a ground-floor guy.
If things keep going well for the Chicago Cubs this fall, Wood will end up with a penthouse suite.
The 29-year-old left-handed pitcher came to the Cubs on Dec. 23, 2011, in a trade with the Reds that sent lefty Sean Marshall to Cincinnati.
That gives Wood a bit of Cubs seniority over star first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who came in a trade with the San Diego Padres in early January 2012.
Wood was one of the first acquisitions by the then-new baseball-operations team, led by president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer.
Since then, Wood has seen the lowest lows, including a 101-loss season in 2012 all the way to playoff seasons last year and this.
Things reached a new high for Wood on Saturday night in the Cubs' 5-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field as they took a two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-five National League division series.
Not only was Wood the winning pitcher in relief of Kyle Hendricks, he also cracked the third home run by a Cubs pitcher in postseason history.
Wood took a curtain call after the homer, perhaps providing some extra satisfaction after the tough seasons.
"It's was a grind for those years that we were trying to get the right pieces in place," he said. "Theo and Jed have done an outstanding job of getting the guys we have here now. To be through it the whole way, it was a grind, and I'm just happy to see the outcome of it.
"You could see it at the end of each year and coming back to the next year, the key pieces they kept around and who have stayed and as the team built up, you ended up seeing the same guys every year getting there. Just adding a few more pieces, that's why we're here."
Wood's own career has taken its own twists and turns before he settled into his current role as a workhorse out of the bullpen.
He spent time at Class AAA Iowa in 2012 before coming up and sticking in the Cubs' rotation. The next year, Wood made the all-star team, and he finished with a record of 9-12 with a 3.11 ERA on a losing team.
Last season, his first under manager Joe Maddon, Wood lost his spot in the starting rotation. Instead of grousing about it, he headed down to the pen and excelled, going 3-2 with a 2.95 ERA and 4 saves as a reliever.
This season Wood was 4-0 with a 2.95 ERA and a WHIP of 1.13 in 77 relief appearances. Making the transition from starter to reliever wasn't a problem for him.
"No, it wasn't difficult," he said. "That's the route they decided to take with me. I'm still a pitcher. Whenever they ask me to go out there and get guys out, I've got to get them out. I can't pout or do anything about that. I just took it in stride. When they call my name, I just go out there and try to give them everything I can."
Wood has 9 regular-season home runs in his career. During one crazy game this season, he came in to pitch, went to left field and went back on the mound again. He even made a catch against the wall in left during that July 31 game.
For that kind of an attitude, Wood earned praise from Maddon.
"He's been outstanding," the manager said Saturday. "We lean on him a lot as you can see just based on appearances. When he's right, he's good against both lefties and righties. And he's been getting back to that point right now.
"He's a leader in the clubhouse. People don't even talk about Travis, but a lot of guys go to him for different issues. They lean on Travis a lot. He's got a great personality, as you know.
"He's very calm. He's the kind of guy who likes to sit on the back porch all winter. That's what he does. So when he goes out there to play, even in the tightest situation, he's very comfortable with it."