Angels Claim Blake Wood

The Angels have claimed righty Blake Wood off waivers from the Reds, per a club announcement. Right-hander Matt Shoemaker was shifted to the 60-day DL to make way for the acquisition.

Wood had been designated recently by Cincinnati after a pair of dreadful outings. But he certainly has a big arm and some track record of success in the majors.

The Halos will hope that Wood becomes the team’s latest reclamation success — perhaps helping to make up for the absence of David Hernandez, who was dealt away at the deadline. Since, the Angels have managed to climb into the thick of the AL Wild Card race.

Wood, 32, carried a 3.69 ERA until he was lit up on August 11th. Now, just two weeks later, that figure has ballooned all the way to 5.65. But he does still have solid-enough peripherals, with 9.7 K/9 against 4.6 BB/9 along with a 53.6% groundball rate, and still works in the 97 mph range with his heater.

If Wood can prove his worth in Los Angeles, the club may also consider retaining him for the future. He’s earning $1.275MM this year and can be tendered arbitration once more this fall.