'He's pretty special': Wood in rarefied air with hard-hit rate to begin career

WASHINGTON --The bat booms and the ball soars when James Wood is at the plate.

The 6-foot-7 rookie outfielder has been powering hits throughout Major League ballparks since his debut on July 1. Wood is doing it at such a pace that it is becoming part of his everyday game, but the numbers already stand out around the league in his short time as a big leaguer.

The lefty-hitting Wood entered Thursday’s 8-3 win over the Rockies with 34 batted balls over 105 mph -- tied with Shohei Ohtani and Bobby Witt Jr. for fifth among all players in the time since his debut.

Only Juan Soto (39), Rafael Devers (38), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (37) and Matt Chapman (35) have more such batted balls in that span.

Wood also entered the series finale leading all players with 31.5 percent of his batted balls hit at least 105 mph since July 1.

“It’s knowing my swing,” said Wood, who went 1-for-3 and drove in a pair of runs on Thursday in Patrick Corbin’s 100th career win. “Obviously, it helps because I have size, so that’s kind of part of it. But knowing when not to do too much also plays into it. I want to be aware, but I don’t want to be too invested in it to where I’m swinging out of my shoes every time.”

Wood demonstrated his power in his first Major League at-bat. Facing Mets left-hander David Peterson, he worked a full count and belted a 106.7 mph single into left field on the seventh pitch, a sinker. At the time, the league average exit velocity on singles was 90.7 mph.

Wood ranks second to Soto (106.8 mph on May 21, 2018) in Nationals hardest-hit first career hits.

“He’s pretty special, he really is,” said manager Dave Martinez. “He understands what he wants to do. He has a plan every time he goes up there. He doesn’t try to do a whole lot. I get to appreciate it because when he does hit the ball the way he does, it’s almost like a ‘wow’ for me because I know what he’s really trying to do up there.”

Wood’s hardest-hit ball of the season was a 111.6 mph ground out to shortstop off a sinker from Mets lefty Sean Manaea on July 2. The following month, he recorded his highest exit velocity on a hit: a 111.3 mph single to third base off a fastball from Angels right-hander José Soriano.

Of Wood’s five homers this season, the hardest hit was 108.3 mph off a sinker from Giants righty Sean Hjelle.

“He’s not trying to just go hit home runs,” said Martinez. “He’s trying to stay in the middle of the field, and he’s really trying to focus on just hitting the ball hard and driving the ball. When he does that, he really does hit the ball hard.

"I have a lot of appreciation for him because people don’t realize, it’s always an adjustment. In this league, you’ve got to adjust and they’re going to adjust to you and he’s constantly adjusting.”

Overall, Wood entered Thursday ranked sixth in baseball with a 94.3 average exit velocity and fourth among all players with a 56.5 percent hard-hit rate (minimum 100 batted balls).

Wood is slashing .353/.443/.603 in 19 games played this month. He will look to keep that pace when the Nationals travel to Atlanta this weekend -- Wood is batting .324 on the road.

“It’s something I try to do, it’s something I look for,” Wood said of hitting at a high exit velocity. “I don’t really try to chase it. I’m aware of it, but I don’t try to force it.”