Nationals Rising Star James Wood Set To Take On the Home Run Derby This Season

The Washington Nationals have had a tough season, there is no doubt about that, but one of their brightest points has been the emergence of young outfielder James Wood, who has rapidly become one of the best sluggers in the entire MLB.

With 22 home runs to his name in 86 games played this year, he has shown some true pop off the bat early in his career, and continues to only get better by the day each time he takes the plate.

This success has sent him through to the 2025 Home Run Derby, as was announced by the team early on Thursday. He will be set to compete against Ronald Acuna Jr. and Cal Raleigh so far, both of whom have had outstanding seasons in their own right, and will be formidable opponents for the July 14 event.

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The Nationals are no strangers to the event in recent years whatsoever, with Bryce Harper taking home the trophy in 2018 with 45 total home runs, and Juan Soto landing it in 2022 with 53 homers. It becomes rather ironic that one of the return pieces in the Soto trade will now be competing in the same event only three years later, while Soto currently plays out his contract with the New York Mets.

Wood currently sits seventh in the MLB with his 22 home runs, behind some truly impressive names such as Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, and more. He has rapidly proven himself to be amongst those names in terms of his ability to get the ball up and out of the field, and now he will have a chance to showcase it in front of the whole nation during the All-Star break.

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