Blake Wood Resigns With LA Angels

The LA Angels have made headlines for their interest in Japanese star Shohei Ohtani, but they haven’t stopped making smaller moves either. On Friday, they resigned relief pitcher Blake Wood for the 2018 season.

The LA Angels had a great bullpen in 2017. Despite a few collapses in the latter half of the season, their relievers were the strongest group on the Halos. For a brief amount of time, Blake Wood was apart of that group. Now, the Halos will be bringing him back in 2018.

More from Halo Hangout

• New York Post columnist has LA Angels bringing veteran starter back to LA
• Dodgers make wild mistake signing failed LA Angels starter
• Why LA Angels’ Qualifying Offer to Raisel Iglesias could become historical
• Both Gold Glove finalists for LA Angels getting snubbed is a complete joke
• Marcus Stroman definitely appears to be interested in the LA Angels

Wood and the Halos agreed on a $1.45 million contract prior to the arbitration deadline. He was projected to make north of two million dollars should arbitration had taken place, so this signing allowed the Halos to keep a talented arm for relatively cheap.

Wood only pitched 17 innings for the Halos after they claimed him from the Cincinnati Reds last season. His ERA was not overly impressive at 5.45, but he had 22 strikeouts in those 17 innings. He also only walked four batters, giving him an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The Halos just saw Yusmeiro Petit sign with Oakland on a two-year, ten million dollar contract. Petit was arguably the team’s best reliever in 2017, so they’ll be looking for any possible replacements, especially for cheap. Wood has the capability to get the team out of tight situations much like Petit. Their high strikeout numbers help strand runners they inherit.

Wood posted his highest K/BB ratio of his career in his time with the Angels last year. In addition to that, Wood finished the season on a phenomenal ten game stretch. During the stretch, he allowed one run over eight innings of work. He also struck out 11 batters in that stretch while only walking two.

Next: Halos Should Bring Back Chris Iannetta

Wood caught a couple tough breaks for the Halos in 2017. He allowed seven of his nine earned runs in back-to-back games. If not for those two games, Wood’s ERA as an Angel goes from 4.76 to an outstanding 1.23.

While it is unfair to expect that great of an ERA all of next season from Wood, he definitely showed Halo fans enough to think he can be a solid contributor next year.