Gage Wood won’t pitch in the Eastern League championship series. (Logan Gehman/Phillies Nation)
READING, Pa. — Double-A Reading’s pursuit of an Eastern League title will have to come without the Phillies’ top pitching prospect for the final series of the season.
Right-hander Gage Wood, a first-round pick in last year’s draft, will not appear in the team’s best-of-three championship series, Fightins manager Al Pedrique said before Tuesday’s Game 2 against Erie at FirstEnergy Stadium. After beating the SeaWolves on the road to take a 1-0 series lead on Sunday, Reading will send former Penn Quakers righty Ryan Dromboski to the mound on Tuesday night with a chance to clinch. Right-hander Cody Bowker is listed as the club’s probable starter for a potential Game 3.
“That’s something that we’re going to handle internally,” Pedrique said of Wood not participating in the championship series. “That’s something that the organization thought was best for Wood, not to pitch right now. We’re happy. We respect the decision. We just got to move forward, and that’s what it takes.”
Wood, the No. 1 Phillies prospect in Phillies Nation‘s latest rankings, started for the Fightins in their playoff opener last Tuesday, allowing three runs over four innings in a 21-4 Reading blowout victory. He was then transferred to the development list on Sunday in a move that took him off the team’s active roster. Pedrique said that Wood feels “fine.”
The 22-year-old Wood began his first full season as a professional with Single-A Clearwater, then made the jump straight to Reading in May while skipping over High-A. He had a 3.42 ERA in eight starts for the Threshers. While still displaying his electric arsenal, he was not as productive at Double-A. He posted a 4.72 ERA in 17 regular-season outings for the Fightins.
In college at Arkansas last year, Wood threw just 37 2/3 innings as he was limited due to a shoulder injury. He pitched an additional two innings in the minor leagues after he was drafted. In 2026, Wood has thrown 99 innings between the regular season and playoffs. The 6-foot starter with a power fastball has not thrown more than five innings in a start this season.
Asked if Wood’s exclusion from the plans for the championship series was due to an injury or innings limit, Pedrique declined to provide further detail while maintaining that the young pitcher is “fine.”
“I’d rather just keep it internally,” Pedrique said. “I’d rather not make any comments about it. He’s fine. Like I said, there was a decision made from the top, and we’ll respect that. And we got plenty of guys on the team that can help us contribute and go from there.”
The Fightins, who finished with the best second-half record in their division at 40-28, bounced back from a 30-39 first half to earn their first playoff appearance since 2019. Reading has not won an outright Eastern League championship since 1995, and its last title came in 2001, when the franchise was declared a co-champion following the cancellation of the finals.
While they won’t have Wood on the field, the Fightins are in an excellent position to claim the Eastern League over Erie, with two tries to get one win at home.
“I’m very proud of this team,” Pedrique said, “the whole coaching staff, medical people, conditioning, players. I would say: great year, great second half. And now to put ourselves in this situation: winning tonight, we clinch and win the championship, that’s outstanding.”
