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Nationals fan can circle Monday, July 1, as one of the most anticipated days in recent franchise history. They’re planning to promote top outfield prospect James Wood for his MLB debut when they return home for a series against the Mets that day, reports Grant Paulsen of 106.7 FM The Fan.
Talk Nats recently suggested that could be a potential target date for the ballyhooed prospect’s debut and it seems that is indeed the Nats’ plan. Washington will need to formally select Wood’s contract to get him onto the 40-man roster. The 21-year-old Wood, currently the game’s No. 3 overall prospect at Baseball America, was one of the centerpieces in the blockbuster trade sending Juan Soto from Washington to San Diego two years ago.
Wood, now 21, was selected by the Padres in the second round of the 2021 draft. Baseball America ranked him the No. 5 prospect in San Diego’s system going into 2022. He increased his prospect stock almost immediately, with a strong showing in 50 Single-A games that year. He hit 10 home runs, stole 15 bases and drew a walk in 15.7% of his plate appearances, striking out just 17.8% of the time. His .337/.453/.601 batting line translated to a 168 wRC+.
As mentioned, Wood changed teams in the 2022 deal that sent Soto to the Padres, with the Nationals also getting CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit. Wood continued at the Single-A level after that deal, slashing .293/.366/.463 for his new organization.
Going into 2023, Wood was generally considered to be one of the top 20 prospects around the league and he just kept hitting. He got into 129 games last year between High-A and Double-A, launching 26 homers and swiping 18 bags. His 31.5% strikeout rate was a bit high but he was still getting walked at a string 11.8% clip.
This year, Wood’s progression has continued with more amazing numbers, though with a slight injury hiccup. In late May, he suffered a hamstring injury and missed closed to a month, but he returned to the field and has looked no worse for wear. Through 51 Triple-A games this season, he currently sports a monster line of .346/.458/.578. That includes 10 home runs, 10 steals and a 17.3% walk rate. He’s also trimmed his strikeout rate to a tidy 18.2% level.
Wood is clearly ready for the next step and will try tackling major league pitching. Not all prospects find immediate success when brought up to the big leagues, so it shouldn’t be a massive surprise if he can’t keep putting up video game numbers like he has in the minors, but he has little left to prove and it’s time for the show.
For the Nationals, it’s a very interesting transition time for this promotion. They spent most of the previous decade in contention, with rosters featuring star players like Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, Soto and others, winning a title in 2019. But the bottom quickly fell out after they won that World Series, which led to trades of Scherzer, Turner and Soto.
Though dealing a generational talent like Soto may have been tough for the Washington front office and its fans, it has played a huge role in what seems to be a relatively quick return to respectable baseball. Abrams’ defense is still a work in progress but he’s putting up huge offensive numbers from the shortstop position and stealing bases as well, while Gore is having himself a very nice season on the mound.
The Nats came into this season clearly still in rebuild mode but they haven’t fallen completely out of the playoff picture in the weak National League race. Their 38-42 record is clearly subpar but they are only three games back of a wild-card spot at the moment.
If Wood is able to succeed in the majors right away, that would obviously be a boost for their chances of hanging around that playoff race. Wood has experience at all three outfield spots but has been in left field since coming back from his injury, perhaps suggesting that is where the Nats plan to slot him in. Jesse Winker has been playing that spot and is having a nice season, but he’s not considered a strong defender and may be moved into a designated hitter role. Eddie Rosario has been serving as the DH for most of this month but is hitting just .181/.226/.330 for the year. If he’s going to be the one relinquishing the most playing time to Wood, it will be a low bar to clear for Wood in providing the Nats with an immediate upgrade.
Whether the Nats can be a surprise contender this year or not, Wood is still lined up to be a big part of a new core that has been gradually forming in Washington. As mentioned, Abrams and Gore are having good seasons. Jacob Young hasn’t hit much yet but has a strong floor in center field thanks to his speed and defense. Young and controllable pitchers like Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz have shown encouraging signs to various degrees. Cade Cavalli will be back in that mix after he finishes rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. And Wood won’t be the last exciting prospect promotion, with Dylan Crews, Brady House and others on the way.
The trade deadline is on July 30, just over a month away, so the club can take that time to decide if they want to try for something this year or just focus on putting the pieces together for the future. Either way, there’s plenty to like in the long-term view. In addition to the talent, the onerous Patrick Corbin contract is set to expire at the end of this season. That will leave the future payroll relatively clean, Keibert Ruiz and Strasburg the only notable deals on the books. The Ruiz deal has a fairly low average annual value while Strasburg’s deal was renegotiated to defer some money as part of his retirement. In short, the club has plenty of ability to build around their budding core going forward.
For Wood, he won’t be able to earn a full year of service time this year. Top prospects called up midseason can earn a full service year by finishing in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting, but that will be essentially impossible for him at this point. Even if he crushes the ball for the next three months, he won’t be able to catch guys like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Paul Skenes, Joey Ortiz and the other rookies that have already had plenty of time to pull ahead.
He also won’t have enough time to get to Super Two status after 2026, based on where previous cutoffs have been. The earliest he could qualify for arbitration is after 2027 and his earliest free agency would be after 2030. Future optional assignments could push those timelines back but that won’t be a concern if he keeps mashing the way he has been on the farm.
More must-reads:
- Nationals' top prospect set to make MLB debut
- Cardinals to promote key pitching prospect
- The '2019 Washington Nationals World Series roster' quiz
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