Nats call up No. 3 overall prospect James Wood
Unbelievable and amazing.
Those are a couple of the adjectives the Nationals used to describe outfielder James Wood on Friday prior to that evening’s game against the Rays at Tropicana Field. We will soon see on a Major League field why the Nats’ No. 1 prospect has earned such superlatives.
Wood, ranked as the No. 3 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline, was called up by the club from Triple-A Rochester before Monday's game against the Mets (6:45 p.m. ET, MLB Network). He'll start in left field and bat sixth in his MLB debut.
In a corresponding move, outfielder Eddie Rosario was designated for assignment.
The 6-foot-7, 21-year-old from Maryland has dominated with the Red Wings this season. In 51 games, the lefty-hitting Wood slashed .346/.458/.578 in 185 at-bats with 64 hits, 34 RBIs, 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases. He has recorded a 1.036 OPS, the best from any qualified Minor Leaguer above the Complex League level. Among players with at least 200 plate appearances at Triple-A this year, Wood’s 58.6% hard-hit rate is the best of the bunch. For comparison, only three qualified Major Leaguers have a better hard-hit rate this season: Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
“He's an outstanding kid and [I'm] looking forward to working with him," manager Dave Martinez said ahead of Friday’s game.
Besides possessing top-notch power, Wood has utilized his speed, agility and size to excel on defense this year, as evidenced by his 1.000 fielding percentage while playing all around the outfield (five games in right field, 24 games in center and 21 games in left).
“It's unbelievable how he plays,” said outfielder Harold Ramírez, who played alongside Wood for seven games at Triple-A this month before making his Nats debut on June 24. “I hear he's going to be here soon. He’s a very good player.”
The Nationals acquired Wood from the Padres organization at the 2022 Trade Deadline as part of the Juan Soto blockbuster deal. At the time, Wood, a 2021 second-round Draft pick out of IMG Academy, was playing in Single-A and ranked as the No. 88 MLB prospect.
Wood arrived to the Nats with shortstop CJ Abrams, southpaw MacKenzie Gore, outfielder Robert Hassell III (No. 8 prospect), right-hander Jarlin Susana (No. 10) and veteran first baseman/designated hitter Luke Voit.
Wood got to know his new teammates when he participated in Major League Spring Training this year. He turned heads during camp, and he has been capturing attention all season since then.
“Seeing the things he does on the field is amazing,” Abrams said. “All he's going to do is add to the team. I'm excited to see him up here.”
Just in time for Independence Day in the nation’s capital, Wood joins Abrams and Gore in the Nationals' clubhouse as key members of Washington’s future core already at the big league level.
“These three -- right now the two players that we have have really helped us a lot, jumpstarted us,” Martinez said. “... I'm excited to have these guys. I'm excited about the future of our organization. And there's definitely more to come. We’ve got a lot of good, young players out there that are scratching the surface.”