Hunter Blake Wood…he and his wife Hannah have 3 children, sons Easton and Rawling and daughter Ricki Joe…among his offseason activities is training English Springer Spaniels as upland and waterfowl hunting dogs…also duck hunts often in the offseason...grew up in Arkansas as Texas Rangers fan...his favorite pitchers to watch growing up were Tim Lincecum and Josh Beckett.
2020
Was part of CLE’s Summer Camp before being designated for assignment on 7/23…was assigned outright to the Indians’ Alternate Training Site on 7/25, spending the duration of the season with the team’s alternate group at High-A Lake County in suburban Cleveland…was granted free agency on 11/2/20.
2019
Was acquired from Tampa Bay three days prior to the trade deadline and spent themajority of the final two months in the Indians bullpen, providing quality bridge innings for Cleveland...Overall he spent nine stints in the Majors between Tampa Bay, AAA Durham, Cleveland and AAA Columbus...Was called up seven times by TB and twice by Cleveland, the last of which came August 10 thru the end of the season...Started two games for the Rays, posting 4.0 scoreless innings...Following the trade, was optioned to AAA Columbus, making one relief appearance (1.1IP, 1H, 1R/ER, 3SO, 19P) for the Clippers on August 1...Was recalled to Cleveland, August 2-8, and again from August 10-on...Was on the 10-day Injured List with Rays, May 2-17, with right shoulder inflammation (first career IL stint)...Including his time with the Rays, he posted a 3.29 ERA over his final 25 relief outings from June 6-end of season (27.1IP, 28H, 10ER)....Overall on the year, 24 of his 36 outings were scoreless, including 12 outings with Cleveland without allowing an earned run...In 7 September appearances, he posted a 2.35 ERA (7.2IP, 5H, 2ER)...Left-handed batters posted a slash line of .257/.325/.324) off the Rogers, Arkansas native...On the year, batters hit .244 (21-for-86) with runners on base and .245 (12-for-49) with RISP.
2018
Made 29 apps (8 starts) over three stints with the Rays (April 17-24, May 14 and June 30 through the end of the season)...Went 1-0 with a 3.54 ERA (28-IP, 11-ER) in 21 apps out of the bullpen and 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA (13-IP, 6-ER) in 8 starts…yielded 4 HR, all in relief, and all solo homers...Pitched to a 1.69 ERA (10.2-IP, 2-ER) in his last 10 apps starting Sep 4 and a 3.24 ERA (16.2-IP, 6-ER) in his last 15 apps (2 starts) starting Aug 11...His 8 starts came as an opener, and the Rays went 6-2 in those games…went 2 IP or fewer in all 8 starts, facing between 5-10 batters in each...The Rays won his first 4 starts, the fourth time in franchise history they won the first 4 starts of a pitcher's Rays career, following Tanyon Sturtze (7-0) in 2000-01, Bobby Witt (5-0) in 1999 and Cory Lidle (4-0) in 1999-2000…Diego Castillo (6-0) joined this list later in 2018...On July 11 vs. DET, made his first career start, a scoreless 1st inning…yielded consecutive 2-out singles, but a Victor Martinez grounder ended the frame...On Aug 2 vs. LAA, recorded a career-high 5 SO in his 13th career app (4th start)…went 2 IP, and his only baserunner allowed was a 2-out double by Justin Upton in the 1st inning…got Albert Pujols on a 1-3 groundout to end the frame, then struck out all 3 BF in the 2nd inning...On Sep 4 at TOR, recorded his first career win, retiring all 6 BF on 19 pitches spanning the 2nd and 3rd innings...Went at least 2 IP in 14 of his 24 outings with Triple-A Durham, and his season highs were 3 IP and 49 pitches.
2017
Spent the entire season in the minors aside from a one-day stint on May 30 at TEX…made his major league debut that night, retiring Nomar Mazar -- his only batter face -- for the final out of the 8th inning... He and José Alvarado both bypassed Triple-A for their major league debuts, the first Rays to do that since Scott Kazmir in 2004... Optioned back to Montgomery after his debut… made 12 starts with the Biscuits and was promoted to Triple-A Durham on June 16…combined for a career-high 115 SO... Made 6 starts with the Bulls before making his final 13 apps of the season out of the bullpen… posted a 1.96 ERA (23-IP, 5-ER) as a reliever... Was 2-0 and did not allow a run over 4 apps in the IL postseason, helping the Bulls win the Governors' Cup.
2016
Split the season between Class-A Charlotte and Double-A Montgomery…went 9-5 with a 2.39 ERA (113-IP, 30-ER) in 21 apps (18 starts)…promoted to Montgomery at the end of May...Ranked 2nd among Rays minor leaguers in ERA, trailing Brent Honeywell (2.34), and ranked 5th with 9 wins...Eight of his 18 starts between the two levels were scoreless…yielded 2 hits or fewer in 6 of his 18 starts...Opened his Double-A career with a 14-inning scoreless streak spanning 3 starts...Twice took home Pitcher of the Week honors and did so once at each level: with Charlotte for May 9-15 and Montgomery for June 20-26...Did not pitch in July due to a broken thumb sustained on a comebacker to the mound…had thrown 6 no-hit innings on June 23 at Biloxi (Brewers) prior to the injury...Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 27 prospect in the Rays organization following the season.