CINCINNATI — After a spectacular season in the Class AA and Class AAA levels of the Minor Leagues, Bryant's Travis Wood, son of Jay and Dena Wood of Bryant, has been added to the 40-man roster of the Cincinnati Reds Major League Baseball team for the first time.
Wood, a former star with the Bryant Hornets high school team and the Bryant Black Sox American Legion team, was a second-round draft pick by the Reds in the June 2005 first-year player draft. According to a story on mlb.com, Wood and six other members of the Reds' Minor League organization were added to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft at MLB's Winter meetings next month. It also indicates that the Bryant product will be invited to the Reds' Major League spring training in February 2010.[more]
The article noted, "Wood, a left-handed starter who could wedge himself into the battle for Reds rotation's fifth spot, was 13-5 with a 1.77 ERA in 22 starts combined with Carolina and Louisville. Over his 167 2/3 innings, the 22-year-old Wood allowed 121 hits and 53 walks while striking out 135."
During the season, Wood was named Southern League Pitcher of the Week twice for the Carolina Mudcats. He made the Southern League's mid-season All-Star team and started the all-star game. He was also named to the Southern League post-season All-Star team when he was named the league's Most Outstanding Pitcher for the season. Earlier this month, he was named a Topps Double-A All-Star.
After just eight starts for the Class AAA Louisville Bats (in which he went 4-2 with a 3.14 ERA), Wood was the team's starting pitcher in the first round of the International League playoffs.
Gina Reynolds
We are so proud of him! Congrats. Randy said when he first saw him pitch as a tenth grader that he would be in the bigs someday.