Nationals Star James Wood Now Knows His Competitors in Home Run Derby

It hasn't been a fun season for the Washington Nationals overall, but everyone in the fanbase has a chance to watch the franchise's superstar slugger put on a show during the Home Run Derby.

After emerging as one of the biggest long ball threats in the sport through the first half of the season, James Wood now has an opportunity to win some hardware.

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He was the third player to announce that he was going to compete in this showcase event, joining Ronald Acuna Jr. of the hometown Atlanta Braves and Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners.

But now Wood knows everyone who he will be competing against.

Home Run Derby Field

• Ronald Acuna Jr. (11 home runs)
• Cal Raleigh (36 home runs)
• James Wood (24 home runs)
• Byron Buxton (20 home runs)
• Oneil Cruz (16 home runs)
• Junior Caminero (23 home runs)
• Brent Rooker (19 home runs)
• Jazz Chisholm Jr. (17 home runs)

Starting with Acuna, he missed the first part of the year after coming back from ACL surgery.

He has been on a tear since returning, though, and he's heading into the All-Star break with a flash of power after hitting two homers in the same game on July 9.

Raleigh has been one of the best stories of the season thus far with him setting records for home runs by a catcher in the first half of any Major League campaign and breaking Ken Griffey Jr.'s record for most long balls by a Seattle Mariners player before the Midsummer Classic.

He currently leads the MLB in home runs and will be hitting in a much more hitter friendly environment than he's used to in his home ballpark.

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Byron Buxton is one of the most spectacular talents in the sport, and with him staying healthy for the most part this year, he has flashed what he can do.

However, he's cooled off in the month of July with only one homer at the time of writing.

Oneil Cruz is an advanced statistics outlier with how hard he swings and how fast the ball comes off his bat, which has allowed him to hit moonshots when he connects with pitches.

Similarly to Buxton, though, he is also on a cold streak entering this event with just one homer in July.

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On the other end of the spectrum are Brent Rooker, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Junior Caminero.

Those three have hit the ball well this month, with Rooker chasing his third straight 30-plus homer season after launching two this month. Caminero has hit two home runs in two straight games on July 9 and 10, so he's heading into the Home Run Derby confident in his power stroke. But perhaps nobody is hotter than Chisholm, who has blasted three over the fence in July that included two in one game on July 9.

Wood has his work cut out for him, but he's been swinging the bat well with two homers this month.

This should be an awesome event that Wood has a real chance of winning.

The Home Run Derby will take place on July 14 at Truist Park in Atlanta. It will be broadcasted on ESPN with coverage scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET.

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