Royals claim Blake Wood off waivers

If there is one thing that the Royals do consistently, it is second chances. Kevin Appier had a second tour of duty, as did Joe Randa. Jeff Francoeur was also given a second shot at having a career by Dayton Moore, who had a hand in drafting and developing the outfielder in Atlanta. Hideo Nomo, Brett Tomko, Sidney Ponson, and on and on.

Now, you can add Blake Wood to the list of Royals castaways and reclamations to make their way back into the system.

The Kansas City #Royals are bringing back RHP Blake Wood, a former mainstay in pen, claiming him off waivers from the #Cleveland Indians.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 2, 2014

Blake Wood was a non-tender casualty following the 2011 season, when he was diagnosed with a UCL tear requiring Tommy John surgery. The Royals had (and continue to have) a glut of relief pitchers in the system and needed to shuffle him off of the 40-man. The reliever was claimed by Cleveland and spent most of 2013 in the minors, pitching only 1.1 innings in the majors.

From 2010 to 2011, Wood was a mid-inning mop-up kind of reliever, usually pitching in the sixth inning to bridge the gap from whichever starting pitcher failed to make it deep into a game. Across those two seasons, he pitched 119.1 innings with rates of 7.0 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 with a 4.30 ERA.

Post-injury, Wood has managed just 7.2 innings in the major leagues, striking out eight batters but also walking ten (plus two intentional walks) and a hit by pitch. His ERA this season was 7.11 when he was designated by Cleveland.