Among Atlanta Braves headlines this week was the retirement of starter Alex Wood. The veteran started his career with the Braves after being drafted out of the University of Georgia, spending the 2013-2015 seasons with the team before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wood spent most of the next five years in L.A., earning a World Series ring in his final Dodgers season in 2020. The lefty spent the rest of his career with the Reds, Giants, and Athletics.
Wood's retirement is a reminder of how quickly fortunes can turn and how far the Braves have come in the seasons since the lefty started his career in Atlanta. While this season may not bear it out, Atlanta is in a far better position, having completed a rebuild nearly a decade ago. With this in mind, Wood's time in Atlanta is remembered with mixed feelings.
The veteran retires with a 77-68 record and a respectable 3.78 ERA. Things fell apart in the final two seasons with the Giants and Athletics, Wood unable to offer what has typically been reliable production. It seems this dried up the starter's potential free agent market and resulted in what is a bit of a surprising retirement.
Former Braves Starter Alex Wood Announces Retirement
While the veteran's numbers weren't matching career norms, far worse veterans have continued their respective careers based on the desperation to find starting pitching. Atlanta is the perfect example of this, having four questionable options joining Spencer Strider. It is easy to make the argument that if Wood wanted to continue pitching, there was a fit in Atlanta.
However, retirement makes sense as well if the starter didn't want to stretch his career out just for the sake of continuing to play. The numbers were on a clear downturn and suggested it was time to walk away. For this reason, the retirement does make a level of sense, even if it does come as a bit of a surprise.
Atlanta's rotation will continue to limp towards the end of the season with only Chris Sale nearing a return. It is easy to wonder if the Braves would be better served to shut down the remaining injured starters in addition to Strider in the season's final weeks. Playing for nothing of note, it is far more important to avoid any season-changing injuries than to risk the future in meaningless games.