Wood rewarded by A's with first career Opening Day nod

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- A driving force in Alex Wood’s decision to sign with the A’s this offseason was the leadership role within a young and inexperienced pitching staff. The allure of such an opportunity was even greater than the chance to start every fifth day again, which Oakland also offered.

“I’m truly excited about that [leadership] aspect, because I know this game is really hard,” Wood said last month. “Just to last a month or year is difficult to do. … I’ve been really fortunate and I’m excited to impart some wisdom on some of the young guys, because I’ve been through a lot of different things over the course of my career.”

What better way to lead than to take the mound on Day 1?

When the A’s open up the season on March 28 against the Guardians, Wood will lead his new team onto Rickey Henderson Field at the Coliseum. Oakland officially announced Wood as its Opening Day starter on Tuesday, marking the 33-year-old left-hander’s first Opening Day nod as he enters his 12th big league campaign.

• Guardians-A's Opening Day starting pitchers: Bieber vs. Wood

“The longer you go, there’s not usually a lot of firsts left to be had after so many years,” Wood said on Tuesday before the A’s traveled to Surprise Stadium for a 7-7 tie against the Rangers. “There’s nothing cooler than to be able to go out there and throw in the first game of the year for your team. It’s just a big honor, and I’m super, super excited.”

A’s manager Mark Kotsay pulled Wood into his office at Hohokam Stadium last week to deliver the news. Sitting atop his desk was a bottle of champagne for Wood to celebrate the achievement.

“It was awesome telling Alex,” Kotsay said. “You could see the emotion that he was feeling. He’s been on rosters to be able to do it for the last 11 years, so it was great to reward him. We targeted him this offseason. He wanted to come here and pitch. Everything just felt right about this.”

The A’s consider Wood’s track record worthy of the honor. An All-Star in 2017 with the Dodgers, Wood has proven to be a durable arm over his career by going 76-65 with a 3.74 ERA over 269 games (202 starts) in 11 big league seasons. After combining for 269 1/3 innings from 2021-22 as a mainstay of the Giants’ rotation, he was utilized in more of a swingman role in ‘23. Dealing with separate back and hamstring injuries, he made 12 starts and appeared in a total of 29 games, posting a 4.33 ERA with 74 strikeouts and 42 walks in 97 2/3 innings.

The A’s signed Wood to a one-year, $8.5 million contract in February with the hope that he could help bring some stability to a rotation that tied a Major League record with 24 different starting pitchers used last season and whose 738 innings pitched were the least by any staff in the American League. The former All-Star displayed the strike-throwing qualities that made him such a high priority for the A’s this spring, issuing just two walks with 18 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings through his first four Cactus League starts (one of those was rained out against Cleveland on March 7).

“I’ve watched him pitch from afar and you know how competitive he is,” Kotsay said. “You know the drive he has. We’re going to see that from Day One. It can be infectious on everyone.”

The rest of Oakland’s rotation will include Ross Stripling, JP Sears and Paul Blackburn in some order. Joe Boyle, ranked as the A’s No. 10 prospect by MLB Pipeline, has likely secured the fifth spot, while right-hander Mitch Spence and left-hander Kyle Muller, both of whom were in contention for the rotation, are expected to provide long relief out of the bullpen.

“We’ve got three veteran guys in this rotation along with JP, who made 32 starts last year,” Kotsay said. “We’re in a better spot than we were last year.”

Setting the tone at the top will be Wood, who aims to prove that he is still a quality starter in the Majors, while helping to rebuild an A’s club that hopes to take a big step forward after winning just 50 games in 2023.

“It’ll be cool for me to have my first Opening Day start,” Wood said. “Hopefully, I go out and get us off to a good start to a great season.”