Wood expanding his horizons
Brandon Wood is a natural shortstop who learned how to play third base capably. Now he is increasing his versatilty by another position, playing first base with remarkable dexterity for someone with no experience with the big glove.
This scouting report comes courtesy of Sean Rodriguez, who played alongside Wood in the Triple-A Salt Lake infield as recently as Friday night in Reno during an extra-inning game the Bees lost despite Wood going deep and driving in a pair of runs. Rodriguez, playing second, marveled at how quickly his buddy has adapted to another new position.
“Woody made some great plays down there,” Rodriguez said. “He went across his body to catch one throw that kept them from winning in regulation. The ball would have probably sailed into the stands, but Woody’s an athlete, and he showed it on that play.
“There was another ball headed for the hole, and I was on my way to try to make the play. But Woody got there first and got the out throwing to the pitcher covering. He was there in a heartbeat, man. That was a big-league play.
“He’s 6-3 with soft hands and quick feet. He’s a natural down there at first. But he’s a little concerned, I think, that people might start to think he’s not a shortstop. Believe me, he can play short in the big leagues. No question in my mind.”
Wood had two excellent performances for the Angels at third base, filling in for Chone Figgins, before getting sent to Salt Lake. The Angels won both those games, and Wood had a positive impact each time. He came up big against CC Sabathia in Yankee Stadium with a clutch hit igniting a decisive rally.
Wood carried a .333 average with one walk and two strikeouts in 10 plate appearances to the PCL. He’s batting .299 with 14 homers and 35 RBIs in 44 games. His OPS (on-base plus slugging) is .986.
Wood has made major strides in pitch recognition and plate discipline. How long the Angels can keep him down on the farm remains to be seen, but it’s increasingly baffling to a lot of people that a club that ranks last in the American League in homers and eighth in slugging can’t find a role for one of the premier power prospects in the game.
rallymonkeys 
Brandon’s the sort of athlete who makes spectacular plays look, well, . . .easy. So easy, in fact, you might not notice how competitive he is or how hard he works at becoming the best of the best. He’s a quiet kid. . .doesn’t showboat, doesn’t complain, doesn’t talk trash. More importantly, he doesn’t give up. . .ever.
Hang in there Woody, your time will come. And when it does, oh boy, look out! See you soon #8 . . .BeesGal
Way to good Woodie tag em and bag em bud!!! Semper Fi 1/7 88-92 0341 Devil Dog!!!
sigh
let’s see.
mike doesn’t want to move figgie from short or aybar from third.
he surely won’t move morales from 1st. Though it’s admirable that Wood is willing to learn the position . . . the way that Mike S. thinks, I doubt he’d sacrifice Rob Quinlan to use wood as a back up. Imagine that. Rob Quinlan.
they apparently won’t let wood pull a grich and be a large 2b.
honestly . . . I can’t imagine what these people are thinking. “Waiting for the right injury”? Pretty narrow way to get the guy into the lineup. Then when they DO get a totally unexpected bomb (all of a sudden, kendrick is not the second coming of “the hitman”) they still can’t make it work for wood.
this is a guy who’s probably going to end up playing for someone else after a trade in which the Angels don’t get near what he’s worth in return. And he’ll probably just kill the ball, and us.
It breaks my heart. By almost every measure, he appears the best prospect in their organization. He has had one short coming… .each time he’s been up, he hasn’t quite gone off to the degree that they just can’t send him down. He was MORE than serviceable last season; but he didn’t lock it down for himself. And I can’t blame that on Mike and company.
I don’t agree with or support the way(s) they’ve treated Brandon Wood. It’s a tribute to him if he even cares about them at all.
I’m ok with things we just won 3 in a row and got some good momentum going. Let’s build on this and quit complaining no sense in it if you have no control over it.