Watch an Indians pitcher learn he made the Opening Day roster -- while on the mound

By Dakota Gardner

March 28, 2014

With Opening Day fast approaching, most teams are making their final roster decisions. Normally, we don't get to see those decisions made in public. During a game. On the mound.

But that's what happened to Indians right-hander Blake Wood on Thursday:

That's Indians manager Terry Francona telling Wood he's headed to The Show. According to Fox Sports Ohio, Wood wasn't supposed to find out he'd be breaking camp to Cleveland until the morning, but when Francona heard the righty was struggling with some confidence issues, he decided to act sooner:

Francona, who rarely takes his cell phone to the field but did in this case because there were a lot of moving parts to the roster, called [Indians GM Chris Antonetti], who was watching the minor-league games, and asked if it was OK to tell Wood that he made it.

Wood formerly pitched for the Royals, making 106 appearances between 2010 and 2011, but ultimately underwent Tommy John surgery in 2012. Since then, his only appearance was as a September callup last season with the Indians -- pitching just 1 and 1/3 innings. But now, he's poised to play a larger role:

Francona did say that Wood is still erratic in the strike zone and struggles against the first hitter, but that he has bounced back in getting the rest of the order. Even though he was part of the team in September last year, Wood didn't truly feel like he was a part of it. With winning a spot in spring training, now it feels like he does.

Say what you will about his sense of direction, but Tito does right by his guys.