James Wood Is Coy About His Home Run Derby Interest, His Nationals Teammates Are Not

When the 2025 season concludes for the Washington Nationals, this could be the year where everyone points to as the breakout moment for the future face of their franchise.

James Wood has been a monster.

In 78 games, he's hit 21 homers and has driven in 57 runs, slashing .279/.376/.558 for an OPS+ that's a staggering 63 points above the league average of 100.

What's even scarier about the ceiling of the 22-year-old is that he hasn't even played a full season's worth of games yet, having just 157 total to his name after he made his Major League debut in 2024.

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The leap Wood has taken this year compared to last is noticeable.

In 79 games last season, he hit nine homers and drove in 41 runs, slashing .264/.354/.427 with an OPS+ of 122.

What stands out are the home run totals, with the 6-foot-7 slugger already doubling the output he had in the same amount of games during his first taste of The Show.

Because of that, there's a good chance he'll be called and asked to participate in the Home Run Derby during All-Star weekend, with his current total of 21 entering Monday's action putting him tied for sixth behind some notable names like Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber and the record-setting performance that Cal Raleigh has put together.

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Wood isn't sure if he's going to accept the invitation if it does come, but his teammates and coaches are sure hoping he does.

"Would I like to see him do it? Yeah," manager Dave Martinez said, per Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post (subscription required).

Alex Call was a bit more confident in his guy, saying, "I think he would win it."

But Wood still is undecided if he'll step into that spotlight or not.

"I mean, it's been brought up," he said, smirking, according to Nusbaum. "But I mean, I don't know. We'll see. That'd be cool if I'm invited. So let's try to get that first."

That last part would certainly help the Nationals' cause.

After looking like an improved product on the field during a strong stretch of play, they cooled off in a major way and lost 11 games in a row, getting swept by the Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies as a lowlight.

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When it comes to the event itself, Wood is weighing the pros and cons.

He said he's heard all about the negatives regarding his swing potentially getting messed up or how he'll go into a slump afterwards, but he also believes some positives could come from it, too.

"I think he wants to," Luis Garcia said about whether Wood will enter or not.

It will be interesting to see what Wood decides to do, but if he does participate, then Washington's rising star could be a household name very soon.

For more Nationals news, head over to Nationals On SI.