Phillies’ No. 2 prospect continues to shine at Double-A originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Philadelphia Phillies top pitching prospect, right-hander Gage Wood, continues to show why he could be a factor on the big-league roster later this season. Drafted in the first round (26th overall) in last year’s draft, Wood has done nothing but dominate since joining the Phillies minor league system.
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In eight starts with the Phillies Single-A affiliate, the Clearwater Threshers, Wood went 0-2 with a 3.42 ERA, struck out 40, had a 1.10 WHIP and a .187 batting average against. This performance led the Phillies to promote Wood to Double-A Reading on May 18.
Philadelphia Phillies Gage Wood continues to impress in his time with Double-A Reading
In his second appearance since receiving the promotion to Reading, the 22-year-old showed that the bright lights of Double-A aren’t going to affect him. Wood tossed four innings, struck out four and didn’t walk a batter, while sitting 96-97 miles per hour with his fastball Thursday night.
In his last start, Wood tossed three innings, allowing four hits, one earned run, one walk, and struck out six.
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Gage Wood could become a factor for the Phillies down the road
Still developing, the possibility of Wood joining the Phillies’ big-league roster later in the season isn’t out of the question. The Phillies starters have the 12th-best ERA (4.03) and have two of the best starting pitchers in Major League Baseball, right-hander Zack Wheeler (1.67) and left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (1.47).
Despite having two of the best arms in the game, the Phillies lack starting pitching depth, and right-hander Aaron Nola remains a question mark. Nola is coming off one of his better starts of the season versus the San Diego Padres (six innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out five), but he will need to put together more quality starts to lower the concern.
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The depth choices for the Phillies in case one of their starters gets injured are thin. On the 40-man roster, the Phillies have right-handers Jean Cabrera and Alan Rangel.
Cabrera is not an option, as he was demoted from Triple-A to Double-A for his poor performance (7.11 ERA in three starts) and continues to struggle in Double-A (9.32 ERA in seven starts). Rangel has performed better than Cabrera, posting a 2-4 record with a 3.26 ERA in seven starts (10 games).
Lacking pitching depth and Nola still needing to prove he’s not on the downswing in his career, Wood could become a factor in the Phillies bullpen down the stretch.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
