Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood threw a short bullpen session today of approximately 20 pitches. It was his first time throwing from a mound since undergoing a debridement procedure in July.

Wood is expected to throw another bullpen, plus two sessions against live hitters (simulated games or instructional league games in Arizona) before he returns to the Dodgers.

Wood had a 3.99 earned-run average in 10 starts before going on the disabled list in June. He was striking out batters at a career-high rate of 9.9 per nine innings.

But there was no talk of re-inserting Wood into the Dodgers’ rotation, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, because there was so little time and opportunity for him to rebuild his arm strength.

“There was no chance of that,” Roberts said. “The next-best scenario is to get him out of the ‘pen. In this situation, as long as he’s healthy, there’s really no build-up. It’s a matter of getting a hitter or two out, maybe going an inning at a most. (His role is) just a short, lefty-out-of-the-pen specialist.”

Wood made 20 relief appearances three years ago for the Atlanta Braves. That year, he was considerably more effective as a reliever (2.08 ERA, 9.6 strikeouts/nine innings, .563 opponents’ OPS) than as a starter (3.54 ERA, 8.7 K/9, .706 opponents’ OPS). Wood has been exclusively used as a stater the last two years.

He’ll join a bullpen that already includes left-handers J.P. Howell, Adam Liberatore, Julio Urias, Luis Avilan and Grant Dayton.