James

Wood

Wood’s home run was his ninth of the year. He hit a two-run shot off Zack Wheeler in the sixth inning. Wood’s hitting .269 with a .794 OPS and 41 RBI in 290 at-bats on the season. He turned 22 earlier this month. Wood has the potential to be a five-category fantasy stud in the future.

Wood was responsible for one of the Nationals’ five hits in the extra innings loss to the Royals. The Nats have now been blanked in back-to-back games and have totaled just six runs in their last four games. With just five games left in the 2024 campaign, the Nats will look to close out the season on a high note before prepping for what could be a promising 2025.

Wood got all three of his balls in play into the air today, which is a feat for someone with a 58% groundball rate. The first two resulted in routine outs, but the third fly sailed 421 feet to right. It was his eighth homer through 301 big-league plate appearances.

Wood’s stolen base was his 13th of the season. He’s hitting .273 with seven home runs and 36 stolen bases in 249 at-bats this year. Wood isn’t a finished product given his lack of pulled fly balls and he’s been caught stealing seven times. He’s just scratching the surface of what can be an excellent fantasy ceiling.

It’s amazing to watch Wood play as a 21-year-old and both look and feel like the best player on the field. Both of his home runs were hit to left-center field, traveled at least 426 feet, and sent the Nationals’ lead from one to two. On the season, he has a .273/.364/.429 slash line with seven homers and 12 steals in 66 games. That comes with just two pulled fly balls and he’s been caught stealing seven times. It’s scary to think of how good he can be once he irons out some of the kinks in his game.

The 21-year-old budding superstar singled in the opening inning, stole second base, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a balk. He then delivered an RBI single in the second inning that ran the Nationals’ lead to 4-1 and proceeded to swipe second and third base before getting stranded there. He has been awfully impressive since his promotion from Triple-A Rochester — slashing .280/.377/.430 with five homers, 31 RBI and 11 stolen bases through his first 51 games.

Wood gave the Nationals a 2-0 lead with a two-run single in the third of Cal Quantrill. He also swiped a bag for the seventh time in 14 tries, and he drew a walk. Much has been made of Wood not driving the baseball often to the pull side, but even without it, he’s still hitting .289/.379/.458. A very impressive rookie campaign.

The 21-year-old phenom smacked a two-out single in the opening inning and advanced to second on an error but was left stranded there. He singled again in the third inning and rode home on Luis Garcia Jr.'s three-run blast. Wood also led off the fifth inning with a double but was ultimately picked off of third base. With his three-hit night, he’s now slashing .288/.373/.460 with five homers, 28 RBI and six stolen bases through his first 44 big-league ballgames.

This is a special baseball player. Wood’s home run was, somehow, the first pulled fly ball of his 42-game career. Even without pulling a single fly ball he was managing an .807 OPS entering play on Sunday with four homers, six doubles, three triples, and 28 RBI. He has cashed in on early expectations as a rookie and looks like a future superstar.

Only one of Wood’s hits went for extra bases, but the 21-year-old just continues to make consistent contact at the big league level. The power is certainly in his bat and should be coming at some point.