Travis Wood Near-Perfecto

I just got back from the Travis Wood near-perfect game.

What an experience. I've seen a few no-hitters on TV, but never in person. There definitely is a difference when you're watching in person.

I wasn't that close to the field but did have a pretty good line on home plate. Wood was dealing all night. Once again, his velocity was higher than advertised prior to his call-up. Wood was coming in consistently in the low 90s, and hit 93-94 a couple of times on the gun. His fastball is also a pretty "heavy" offering; the Phils were hitting the ball in the air but had trouble getting any lift on it.

The Brooks Baseball FX numbers don't jibe with what I saw at the game. Wood threw more off-speed pitches than the FX chart say he did, and he did a good job mixing up his curve and slider with the fastball. He kept the Phils off balance in part due to his pitch selection.

I don't have much more to add. Obviously, Wood's not Stephen Strasburg, but for one night at least he pitched as well as Strasburg if not better when you factor efficiency into the equation.