Follow the Prospects: James Wood, OF

[USF_Football]

I'd be fine with him getting approximately 299 AB's this season at most in ML. That would keep him eligible as a MiLer for my 30-team keeper league - from season to season, you can keep 10 major league players; 8 minor league players. Wood is not going to make the impact we need this season to burn the year with guys like Corbin still on the mound. Next year we'll be in better position to contend. Presently as someone stated earlier, we're meddling around. Nice to see some W's for sure - however we're not sniffing a wild card spot this season.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I'd be fine with him getting approximately 299 AB's this season at most in ML. That would keep him eligible as a MiLer for my 30-team keeper league - from season to season, you can keep 10 major league players; 8 minor league players. Wood is not going to make the impact we need this season to burn the year with guys like Corbin still on the mound. Next year we'll be in better position to contend. Presently as someone stated earlier, we're meddling around. Nice to see some W's for sure - however we're not sniffing a wild card spot this season.

did you catch any games in Arlington?

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

Except, when hos K rate drops, his exit velos drop. He hasnt even played 30 games yet. And over half of that he has a .295 slugging.

He's not ready and the Nats dont need to call him up. Let him develop and mature in the minors. We dont need another Jordan Walker situation.

There’s never a guarantee a prospect hits the ground running when called up.  Nobody pays attention to the Nats, and there are zero expectations to push for the playoffs.  Wood has a very low pressure situation to step into.  If he absolutely is horrible ala Jackson Holiday or to a lesser degree like Jordan Walker both last year and this year, it’s not the end of the world for him to return to AAA.  If his psyche is so fragile that would wreck him, then he’s doomed to fail anyway.

Of course you want him up for good when he does get the call.  He has to be “ready” enough in the estimation of the organization that he has at least a good chance to succeed right away.  But there isn’t some point where he’s this finished product you can guarantee is immediately successful. He certainly is unlikely to be worse than guys like Rosario, Meneses, and soon to be returning Gallo that get regular at bats.  He’s shown a lot of the development you want to see in AAA.  Let’s very soon here give him an opportunity and see what he can do.  Again, if he fails, he gains a good idea first hand of what he needs to work on at the MLB level.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

It's 5/5. Another 75 PAs in AAA isn't going to turn him into spoiled milk. I think the argument is can he benefit from a bit more time in the minors. I think yes. Let him get a couple hundred PAs in, keep his Ks down, and show a bit of pop. Then it's time.

Corey - don't forget to vote on the poll

[IanRubbish]

Many players need at least a season before they can make a well above contribution, Harper and CJ are two good examples of that.  The reason to bring him up now is so he could have the MLB experience to contribute in '25 or '26.  Even though this season is beating expectations thus far, highly doubtful they'd make the Wild Card with or without Wood.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

That's a pretty good argument. I would not keep him down later than the end of the month right now, but yes, getting used to the show now helps down the line. Add in the bonus of maybe staying in the. 500 or so pace for a while, I can see your point

[Slateman]

That's a pretty good argument. I would not keep him down later than the end of the month right now, but yes, getting used to the show now helps down the line. Add in the bonus of maybe staying in the. 500 or so pace for a while, I can see your point

Meh, how much "getting used to the show" does he need? He can stay down in Triple A through the deadline and still have plenty of time for MLB.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Meh, how much "getting used to the show" does he need? He can stay down in Triple A through the deadline and still have plenty of time for MLB.

Under the current rules, I don't think the trade deadline really needs to factor into the development of better prospects. The August milestone is when it is late enough to avoid loss of rookie status for guys you think might be RotY candidates the next year. If a guy is really good and you aren't holding onto him for future RotY, then you probably want to use him in place of a replacement level roster guy much earlier in the year. Whether you are gaming Super 2 or trying to avoid full-year credit for a high finish in the current year's RotY voting is a GM decision. You probably want to avoid a full year service credit, so other than the RotY voting consideration, you then are free to call a guy up in late April.

With Wood at this point, if he's not an upgrade on every healthy outfielder not named Winker (or maybe Young), ... However, there's still flaws that can be worked out in AAA for a while, and I wouldn't holding him back just a bit longer while other guys get their last chance to show something.

[nobleisthyname]

I voted to wait until he would retain rookie status next season, but that is with the caveat that he still has obvious holes to work on. If a month from now the power has returned and the K rate remains reasonable, then I'd change my vote to calling him up early.

[USF_Football]

did you catch any games in Arlington?

Unfortunately no. I have four young kids coupled with working a relentless schedule presently (2 AM to 5:30 PM) from Monday through Friday - its been this way for the last eight years or so. On a good note, those hours have placed me in a position where I can financially retire within the next four months - assuming we don't move back to the MVD area when my wife retires from the Army in 694 days - but who's counting? Florida would be my ideal landing spot - my wife wants Montana or Alaska. For as similar as we are in so many ways, our final destinations for living are literally akin to the Trump and Biden relationship. If I stick it out a few more years - I'll be 50 next March, I might be able to afford both areas for us. At what cost to my kids though - 9, 5, 2 and 2. Back to work now - it's 2:59 AM CST. Money never sleeps... Nice unexpected W today versus Burnes and the O's.

[Natsinpwc]

Unfortunately no. I have four young kids coupled with working a relentless schedule presently (2 AM to 5:30 PM) from Monday through Friday - its been this way for the last eight years or so. On a good note, those hours have placed me in a position where I can financially retire within the next four months - assuming we don't move back to the MVD area when my wife retires from the Army in 694 days - but who's counting? Florida would be my ideal landing spot - my wife wants Montana or Alaska. For as similar as we are in so many ways, our final destinations for living are literally akin to the Trump and Biden relationship. If I stick it out a few more years - I'll be 50 next March, I might be able to afford both areas for us. At what cost to my kids though - 9, 5, 2 and 2. Back to work now - it's 2:59 AM CST. Money never sleeps... Nice unexpected W today versus Burnes and the O's.

That’s a brutal schedule. I would need two naps instead of my usual one.

Early retirement is a great goal.  I retired 56 and no regrets.

[Smithian]

Two home runs today. This kid is crushing it.

Jacob Young has CF locked down. Jesse Winker has one corner spot locked down. I think we're Rosario cooling back off away from James Wood probably needing to be called up. Maybe a week of Robles getting consistent starts as a deadline audition, but we're now to the point where Woods has safely figured out AAA.

[Slateman]

Two home runs today. This kid is crushing it.

Jacob Young has CF locked down. Jesse Winker has one corner spot locked down. I think we're Rosario cooling back off away from James Wood probably needing to be called up. Maybe a week of Robles getting consistent starts as a deadline audition, but we're now to the point where Woods has safely figured out AAA.

Because he hit two home runs off a guy?

No, just let him sit there and develop. We have no reason to rush this guy. There is far more at risk for rushing a guy and undermining his development.

[welch]

Two home runs today. This kid is crushing it.

Jacob Young has CF locked down. Jesse Winker has one corner spot locked down. I think we're Rosario cooling back off away from James Wood probably needing to be called up. Maybe a week of Robles getting consistent starts as a deadline audition, but we're now to the point where Woods has safely figured out AAA.

No, just let him sit there and develop. We have no reason to rush this guy. There is far more at risk for rushing a guy and undermining his development.

Think again in June, and, no, I'm not concerned that Wood is merely hitting the ball, striking out less, and hitting fewer homers. He is learning and growing. Meanwhile, the OF looks good enough. As Smithian says, Young is good in CF, and he hits enough, and he is a dynamite base-runner. Winker hits and has LF. Rosario seems to have come alive at the plate, and he is a decent fielder. Add Robles as a platoon in RF, and the Nats are doing OK.

And Lane Thomas will be back.

[Smithian]

Because he hit two home runs off a guy?

No, just let him sit there and develop. We have no reason to rush this guy. There is far more at risk for rushing a guy and undermining his development.

You know the sample size is bigger than two homers. He's hitting better in AAA than he did last year in AA, and he had an impressive Spring in between.

I was "wait until closer to the end of May" in this poll and my above thought would have the question popping up in a couple weeks. If he keeps raking and there's an obvious spot in one of the corners, I'm ready to call him up. I don't think that counts as rushing hm.

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

As far as the Nats trying to win, even when Lane returns, you can play him and Wood in the corners with Young in CF and Robles as a 4th OF and Winker as the primary DH.  Even then you still have wasted ABs given to Gallo/Meneses at 1B.  There is definitely room for Wood’s bat to help.

As for Wood’s development, who is to say at this point it’s not better for his development to face big league pitching?  The sooner he can be “exposed” to a degree and adjust, the sooner he’s on his way to being a star.  He has a manageable K rate and .973 OPS.  Clearly AAA pitchers aren’t exploiting much.

[imref]

Wood has hit two home runs today.

He absolutely should be starting in RF for the Nats right now.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Svrluga asks the question we've been wondering:
 These Nationals are pretty fun. They’d be more fun with James Wood.
Why are the Nationals waiting on James Wood — and when will they stop?!?

link provided.

After noting some of his monster success in the spring and so far in AAA (leading MLB in OPS in the spring, hitting the ball as hard as Soto and Ohtani in terms of exit velo, .339 AVG, .444 OBP in AAA), he points out Wood'd take time from Rosario, Meneses, and /or Gallo - a good thing. Says he'd probably be the second best player on the team the day he's up. He then dismisses the manipulating service time argument by saying he's well past 172 days, but tbh, it's more complicated than that.

That said, Svrluga mentions some baseball reasons as to why he's not up:

So, is this about … baseball? Seems so. Put aside what we all saw in spring training — I know, I know, that’s hard — and dig deeper into the numbers.

Start with the fact that Wood has barely 500 plate appearances above Class A — 368 last year at Class AA Harrisburg, where he didn’t exactly dominate (.248 average, .826 OPS), and just 144 at Class AAA. It’s not unreasonable for the Nats to think more seasoning would be better.

There are, too, some things Wood could polish in Rochester that would help him have more success when he arrives in the National League. His groundball rate of 56 percent is one contributor to the lack of home runs. He’s also struggling against left-handed pitching, hitting just .185 with a .600 OPS while striking out a third of the time (as opposed to .374 with a .998 OPS against right-handers before Wednesday). Triple A ball is where clubs typically stash pitchers who throw all kinds of off-speed stuff, and it can’t hurt Wood to see tons of junk from all sorts of angles that veteran lefties can offer.

Then of course mentions Jackson Holliday, Jordan Walker, and Ryan Langford, because every article on a top tier hitting prospect who does not have immediate success will always mention those guys.

I guess this is the difference between being 8.5 months pregnant and a few days overdue. The baby can come at any time and will be a blessing. It's just there's still a reason for some, but not too much, patience.

[Slateman]

You know the sample size is bigger than two homers. He's hitting better in AAA than he did last year in AA, and he had an impressive Spring in between.

I was "wait until closer to the end of May" in this poll and my above thought would have the question popping up in a couple weeks. If he keeps raking and there's an obvious spot in one of the corners, I'm ready to call him up. I don't think that counts as rushing hm.

He's riding an insane hot streak the first week of the season and a .430 BABIP. He literally just came off a two week stretch of of low .700s OPS.

I need way more consistency than that. The big league team is competing. We dont even know if ownership is willing to commit to the team. There is no reason to even consider it until the middle of June, and honestly waiting for his rookie eligibility to stay intact is justifable with this ownership.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

He's riding an insane hot streak the first week of the season and a .430 BABIP. He literally just came off a two week stretch of of low .700s OPS.

I need way more consistency than that. The big league team is competing. We dont even know if ownership is willing to commit to the team. There is no reason to even consider it until the middle of June, and honestly waiting for his rookie eligibility to stay intact is justifable with this ownership.

frankly, we don't need him to be Soto when he walks in to be an upgrade over what is on the roster. HE just needs to be average to be a couple of fWAR improvement.

[imref]

yeah, i get that Rosario is starting to hit a bit, but i can't believe that Wood wouldn't be an upgrade.

[Slateman]

frankly, we don't need him to be Soto when he walks in to be an upgrade over what is on the roster. HE just needs to be average to be a couple of fWAR improvement.

I mean, I'm not expecting a superstar. But his margin is particularly thin. There is simply no precedent for someone having his struggles in Double A being a successful major leaguer. And without a commitment from ownership to spend like an actual top 10 market, we can not afford for Wood to spend 3-5 years at the MLB level, trying to "figure it out." Keeping him down a month or two more doesn't impede his development. Calling him up to early likely will.

[imref]

in the pregame presser today Davey said they are sticking with the plan with Wood and specifically mentioned wanting to see him get better against LHP as they don't want to platoon him.

[Natsinpwc]

I mean, I'm not expecting a superstar. But his margin is particularly thin. There is simply no precedent for someone having his struggles in Double A being a successful major leaguer. And without a commitment from ownership to spend like an actual top 10 market, we can not afford for Wood to spend 3-5 years at the MLB level, trying to "figure it out." Keeping him down a month or two more doesn't impede his development. Calling him up to early likely will.

There’s no magic formula.  You’re just grasping here. Some guys dominate in the minors and can’t hit MLB pitching.  You don’t really know.  The Lerners spent money on guys Like Gallo and Rosario and Senzel and they want some return on their investment. That’s what this is all about.  And service time.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Actually, the point about hitting lefties is legit, maybe the gb rate Svrluga mentions too. You don't want to just platoon him when he is up