James Wood, the highly touted Washington Nationals prospect who has become a force in the minors, is expected to make his MLB debut on Monday when the Nationals face the New York Mets at Nationals Park. a source familiar with the matter told the Washington Post. on Friday.
Wood, 21, began the year with the Class AAA Rochester (NY) Red Wings. The 6-foot-7 outfielder, whose long-awaited call-up to the majors has generated buzz all season, is hitting .346 with a 1.036 OPS in 51 games for the Red Wings.
The Nationals, in the midst of a 10-day road trip, will face the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida later Friday.
Wood, a powerful left-handed hitter, has hit 51 homers in his minor league career, including 26 a season ago. Wood, who grew up in Maryland, landed in the Nationals’ system in 2022, one of the prospects the San Diego Padres sent to Washington as part of the Juan Soto trade. Also part of that deal: MacKenzie Gore, the left-handed pitcher in line to start Monday.
Eddie Rosario, whom the Nationals signed to a minor league contract in March, appears to be the most likely option to be traded ahead of Wood’s debut on Monday. The Nationals could try to find a team willing to trade for Rosario, the 2021 National League Championship Series MVP who has a .556 OPS this season. But that could prove difficult, even with Rosario’s postseason experience.
The Nationals have four other outfielders on the roster: Lane Thomas, Jacob Young, Jesse Winker and Harold Ramirez, who signed a minor league deal with Washington earlier this month after being designated for assignment by the Rays. Winker was taking practice reps at first base with Joey Meneses before Friday’s game, perhaps indicating how the Nationals want to incorporate both Winker and Wood into the lineup.
Bright, soft-spoken wood has long carried the weight of expectations. And his mother, Paula, has said that he “has always been obsessed with baseball in a way unlike anything else in his life.” Earlier this season, his manager in Rochester indicated that he might be ready for a bigger stage.
“Obviously that’s not my choice,” Red Wings manager Matthew LeCroy said in May. “But he’s done enough already that I would feel confident if they asked me (about calling him) (to say), ‘Hey, man, I might as well do it.’ “
Wood is in the middle of his fourth season in the minors. He began the 2023 season in upper Class A Wilmington and jumped to Class AA Harrisburg after just 42 games. This year, he participated in his first major league spring training and impressed in West Palm Beach, Florida, Washington’s spring training home.
Wood did not make Washington’s Opening Day roster: the Nationals wanted to give him more time to develop. But as he began to dominate Class AAA pitching, the noise around him continued to grow. Wood suffered a right hamstring injury in mid-May, which sidelined him for a few weeks. He returned on June 18 and has played only six games.
When the Nationals traded for Soto, they hoped to build a young core that would make them competitive again. Two pieces of that core — Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams — are already in Washington and have had strong starts to the season. Other players involved in the Soto trade include outfielder Robert Hassell III, who is on the injured list at Class AA Harrisburg (Pa.), and right-hander Jarlin Susana, who has allowed two runs or fewer in his last five starts. for Class A lower Fredericksburg (Virginia).
Wood will arrive in the majors shortly after outfielder Dylan Crews, the second overall pick in the 2023 Draft, joined the Red Wings. Crews, 22, was promoted to Rochester last week.
Wood will join a young Nationals team that has surprised at times this season as the franchise’s reboot continues to take shape. Abrams and infielder Luis García Jr. have been two of the team’s best hitters. Young has impressed in center field and Washington’s pitching, including Gore and two of his fellow starters, Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker, has shined. Right-hander Josiah Gray, a star in 2023, has spent most of the season on the injured list but could rejoin the team in the near future.
And now Wood’s time is approaching, as Washington’s years-long rebuilding takes another big step.
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