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IL1 Indianapolis Indians

Closing Time

June 8, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Indianapolis Indians News Release


INDIANAPOLIS -- On the eve of the 2012 season, relief pitcher Tim Wood was in an unfamiliar situation. After closing out 23 Indians victories the previous season, he was in secure position of the closer role.

After playing for years in the Marlins system, Wood had primarily been a middle reliever, helping bridge the time from the starter to the closer. But that was never ideal.

"When I was with the Marlins, I always wanted to do it, because when you're in the bullpen, that's the role that everybody wants," Wood said. "Everybody wants to be the ninth inning guy. It's the fame, it's the glamour."

Now he had a shot to have the glamour for a full season, but something was missing.

"I didn't feel like I had my attitude out there like I had last year," Wood said. "Last year, I had some attitude and I made sure it was staying with me as I took the mound. I felt like I didn't have that at the beginning of the year."

During his first appearance, he allowed three runs, including a home run. His first save opportunity ended with allowing a walk-off double to Columbus Clippers shortstop Gregorio Petit.

"Sometimes it's just not going to happen," Wood said. "It's the game. Hitters are trying to get hits off you just as much as you're trying to get them out."

On April 22, he was unable to preserve a late 2-0 lead and his ERA rose to 11.81, more than four times what it was for the Indians the previous season. It was still early, but manager Dean Treanor and pitching coach Tom Filer made a change, and Doug Slaten became the go-to closer.

Wood moved to a long-relief role, which both he and Filer saw as a great opportunity.

"You get more time to make adjustments out there," Filer said. "The more times you get an opportunity to pitch out there - and he had extended periods where he was out there two, three, four innings at a time - you start to feel stuff."

Through both extended outings and looking at tape of himself pitching, Wood discovered that he had been moving his lower half toward the plate too quickly, which didn't allow his arm to get into the correct arm slot.

He worked on it and his season began to turn around. His slider was back to lethally darting away from right-handed batters. His fastball was once again leaping out of his hand.

"Just the way he's been pitching has been unbelievable," Filer said. "He's gone on just like he was last year in the closing role, where he was doing real, real well. He felt it. It's something he felt inside."

Despite numerous arm injuries, which include Tommy John surgery in 2005 and right shoulder tendonitis in 2007, Wood has proven that he can prepare to pitch every single night.

"If I'm healthy, I'm never going to turn down the ball," Wood said. "That's just the competition side of me. It keeps me going out there. At this age, I know how to prepare my body. I know how to take care of my body to make sure that I'm ready to go every day."

After tossing 2.1 hitless innings against Buffalo on May 22, it appeared that even Wood would be unavailable to pitch against Louisville on May 2.. However, when neither team could break a 1-1 tie through 13 innings and the Indians had used four pitchers, Treanor wandered from his third base coaching box to the bullpen mound.

Somehow, Wood began warming up and was set to enter the game.

In the top of the 15th, Wood came in and easily retired all three batters he faced, striking out the final batter. In the bottom of the inning, former Indians infielder Matt Hague hit a walkoff RBI single to give Wood the victory.

"We've really relied heavily on 'Woody' over the past ten days or so," Filer said. "We've run him out there quite a bit, because he was our most resilient guy. Some guys aren't as resilient as he is, and thank God we have him."

When Slaten, who compiled eight saves with a stunning 0.36 ERA, was called up May 28, Filer and Treanor found it logical for Wood to resume his duties. At the time, his ERA had plummeted to a stingy 2.70, and it has continued to fall.

"He looks like he's back to the way he used to be," Filer said. "I think he's even better, believe it or not. I think he's better now overall in terms of pitching and knowing what he's supposed to do."

Wood sticks with a very simple approach to pitching. Even though his out pitch is often his slider, he insists that it isn't necessarily his best pitch. A first-pitch strike is his best pitch, Wood insists.

"Being able to get ahead is so important," Wood said. "You look at the batting averages against when you're up 0-1, 0-2, and it's astronomical. They're not hitting anything. Then when you're behind 2-1, 3-1, they're hitting over .300, .400. They're all Hall-of-Famers."

His practice of jumping ahead of batters has been working recently. Since his final blown save April 22, he has allowed just one run in 16 appearances. The stretch has spanned 24 2/3 innings, and Wood has fanned 25 batters while posting a 0.36 ERA.

His success helped earn him the May Player of the Month award. For the month, he appeared in a team-high 13 games while holding opponents to a team-low .066 batting average and having a team-low 0.31 WHIP.

The Indians have compiled a 27-16 record since April 23, and Wood is glad to have gained his attitude back so he can pitch for a team that seems to be clicking so well.

"I needed to have that chip on my shoulder and know that if I don't pitch well, it was going to get taken from me, and sure enough, it did," Wood said. "It's nice to have it back and the way we're playing right now, it looks like we'll be getting some save opportunities and we can roll with it."

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