Travis Wood and Daryl Thompson impress in their debut’s

Daryl Thompson and Travis Wood both made their first starts at their new levels last night. The 22 year old Thompson spent his first 7 weeks in Chattanooga before getting the promotion to Louisville. Wood, 21 years old, spent the first 7 weeks with Sarasota before getting the promotion to Chattanooga along with teammate Jordan Smith.

Thompson is generally the forgotten piece of the Reds/Nationals trade from 2006 but he had been moving up the ladder ever since he got here. In less than 2 years he has gone from Dayton to Louisville. Last night was his first start for the Bats and his debut was more of the same. He went out and gave 7 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks and allowed just 1 unearned run while striking out 6 against Columbus. Columbus just happens to be the AAA affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Think they wouldn’t like to have Thompson back right about now?

Travis Wood (Photo by Tim Evearitt) made his start down in Chattanooga against Montgomery. The left hander was the 2nd round pick in 2005 out of Bryant HS in Arkansas. He has moved methodically through the system, almost a level per year to this point. His debut in AA was a good one. He allowed just 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks in 6 innings and he struck out 8 batters. He was working 88-92 MPH with his fastball, going to the mid 80’s with his cutter and using his change up that has been labeled as one of the best in the minor leagues in the past to keep hitters off balance.