Aug 9, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder James Wood (29) jogs towards the dugout after hitting a home run against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning at Oracle Park. Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Nationals Star James Wood Remains Among MLB’s Top Players Despite Slump

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Matt Postins | Last updated Aug 12, 2025 7:00 PM ET

James Wood hasn’t quite been himself for the Washington Nationals since coming back from the All-Star break. He appears to be breaking out of that funk, but it’s taken nearly a month for his bat to come back around.

Still, he’s considered one of the best young stars in baseball and a cornerstone to the Nationals’ attempt to turn things around. And he’s being recognized as one of the best players in baseball even though he’s just 22 years old.

ESPN recently re-ranked its Top 50 players in Major League Baseball, now that the trade deadline has passed and teams are either making a playoff push or playing out the string. The Nationals aren’t pursuing a playoff berth, but Wood remains one of the top players in the game, as ESPN ranked him at No. 45 overall. He was the only Washington player on the list.

James Wood This Season

Denny Medley-Imagn Images

He was named to the All-Star Game for the first time and participated in the Home Run Derby in July, the result of an impressive first half of the season. Entering Tuesday’s action he was slashing .260/.359/.487 with an .846 OPS, including 25 home runs and 77 RBI. He also has 25 doubles and 14 stolen bases.

Wood went into a slump after he returned from the All-Star Game. In his first 18 games post-break, Wood slashed .130/.221/.174 with no home runs and two RBI. It was the deepest slump of his young MLB career, which started last July when he was called up from Triple-A Rochester to make his debut. He hasn’t gone back to the minors since.

But he turned the slump around while the Nationals were in San Francisco. On Saturday, he ended a month-long home run drought in a 4-2 victory. He hadn’t slammed a home run since July 9, which was before the All-Star break. In his last three games he is 6-for-14 with six RBI and four runs scored. That dovetails with his slash in the last seven games — .286/.333/.536. He is clearly emerging from his slumber, which is good news for Washington.

Along with the All-Star game bid, he’s done some impressive things this season, including becoming the third player in MLB history to have at least 33 home runs, 101 walks, 110 singles and 34 doubles in their first 180 career games. The other two were Hall-of-Famer Ted Williams and the player whose trade led Wood to Washington — Juan Soto.

He’s built on the 79 games he played last season when he slashed 264/.354/.427 with nine home runs and 41 RBI.

Wood was the San Diego Padres’ second-round pick in the 2021 MLB draft out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. He was one of several players the Nationals acquired in 2022 in a massive trade for Soto and Josh Bell, the latter of which returned to Washington this season.

This article first appeared on Washington Nationals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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