Wood's on-base skills put him in elite Nationals company

WASHINGTON -- Since James Wood reached the Major Leagues on July 1, manager Dave Martinez has given him this encouragement: “When you get on base, good things happen.”

Entering the Nationals' 6-3 loss to the Marlins on Thursday, Wood led the National League and ranked fourth among all players with a .415 on-base percentage since July 27 (minimum of 150 plate appearances) -- a mark he achieved with 48 hits, 24 walks and one hit-by-pitch.

“I think the past few weeks, I’ve been getting to the point where I’ve been seeing it well but not being too passive,” Wood, 21, said. “I think sometimes when you start walking a lot, you’ve got to stay focused on getting a pitch to hit.”

Wood extended his on-base streak to a career-best 13 games in the series opener vs. Miami. In his first at-bat, he drew a full-count walk against right-hander Darren McCaughan to move Dylan Crews to second base.

Two batters later, Wood scored from first base on a José Tena double. Tapping into his sprint speed -- which ranks in the 84th percentile -- the 6-foot-7 Wood quickly neared Crews on the base paths as they both headed for home plate.

“He almost caught me there in the first inning; I looked back and he was right there,” said Crews, who is ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 prospect. “I’ve definitely got to take notes for that next time. His one stride is like three strides for me. Great talent, and I’m very happy he’s on my team.”

Wood posted a .333 on-base percentage in his first month in the Majors. He improved that to a .407 OBP in August, with just one more game played than in July.

On the season, Wood has a .366 on-base percentage through his first 63 games. The only other player with a higher on-base percentage in Nationals team history (2005-present) with a minimum of 200 plate appearances in 63 games is Juan Soto (.419 in 2018). For context, Wood ranks ahead of both Ryan Zimmerman (.362, 2005) and Bryce Harper (.354, 2012) in that span.

“I think a lot of it was just kind of getting comfortable here,” Wood said. “I think every time you move up a level and you’re with a new team, getting comfortable in the locker room, out on the field -- I think it takes a little bit.”

Wood’s power is undeniable -- he ranks 92.5 percent in exit velocity. The Nationals have worked with him on pitch recognition in drills to translate that into at-bats.

“He’s trying to see the ball up, and when he does that, he hits the ball hard,” Martinez said. “The other day, he came out and was hitting breaking ball, breaking ball, breaking ball, and then we threw a fastball on the machine behind him. We are just trying to get him to identify the pitches a little sooner, but also be ready for the fastball. He did really well with that drill, it was great.”

Wood put that work into motion on Wednesday against Braves All-Star lefty Max Fried.

“He got a base hit on a breaking ball,” Martinez said, adding, “We’re going to keep working with them until they understand, the strike zone here is a little different because the misses here are not big misses -- they’re always around the plate. But you’ve got to understand who you are, what balls you can hit and give yourself a chance to hit them.”

Wood doesn’t rely solely on his power to get on base. His 32 walks are already second-most on the Nationals, behind CJ Abrams’ 39.

“You see it every day -- he can do it with his speed, he can do it with his bat,” Crews said. “I’m just lucky he’s on my team. He’s an unbelievable player, unbelievable talent. He’s awesome the way he does it every single day. He can beat out a ground ball back to the pitcher, to second base, whatever. He’s a great talent.”

With 16 games left in his first Major League season, Wood is looking to keep this pace and carry it into next year.

“[I want to] continue to be aggressive in my zone and just keep trying to hit the ball hard and take my walks when they’re given to me,” Wood said. “It’s a good sign that I’ve been able to do it for that period of time, but obviously I would like to be able to keep that throughout a whole season.”