Bringing the Lumber to the OF - James Wood

[Slateman]

Coles has been terrible everywhere he's gone. He's 100% a problem and needs to go.

Woods approach is unchanged from the minors.

Here's what happens when the coaching staff gets ahold of you: https://districtondeck.com/posts/cj-abrams-is-being-sabotaged-by-the-washington-nationals-01hxc97m4y8f

He's a 102 wRC+ since Coles started freaking with him.

We had to send Garcia down to the minors to fix his swing. Ruiz needed an offseason.

Since 2022, six hitters have achieved better than league average wRC+. Wood and Lowe are at the top of that list. Coles is holding everyone back at this point

[GataNats]

So I am standing out on the plaza behind Wood, with Young out in center. It's just amazing to watch Young get set as Brzykcy delivers vs Wood. Young gets down almost like an infielder. Wood is pretty stiff barely flinching

Wood is one of the worst outfielders in baseball.   There is no reason not to move him to DH

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Wood is one of the worst outfielders in baseball.   There is no reason not to move him to DH

he's kind of looks like a little leaguer looking around and distracted pre-pitch. I'm a big defender of him and do not say pull the plug on him in the field but you do wonder how into the game he is on d. Those late jumps stand out more with Young and Crews out there with him

[aspenbubba]

Wood is one of the worst outfielders in baseball.   There is no reason not to move him to DH

Where the hell have you been. I’ve being saying this since last season. Every time Bell is in the line up it is like waving a white flag. Play Call in LF. Can’t keep playing the contract Rizzo.

[IanRubbish]

he's kind of looks like a little leaguer looking around and distracted pre-pitch.

Maybe they can grow some dandelions out there for him to play with between pitches. 

[Slateman]

I say play him whever he wants as long as he keeps mashing

[imref]

highest OPS among NL OF'rs

[imref]

Saw on Reddit that he’s now at 6 DRS this year. He was at -7 last year.

[IanRubbish]

Saw on Reddit that he’s now at 6 DRS this year. He was at -7 last year.

Fielding Bible has Nats LF defense at +4 DRS, so that would make sense.  Team overall is -24, ranking 26th.  Entire OF is positive though, entire infield negative with Pitcher, 2B, and Catcher the worst. 

[Smithian]

James Wood is a legit middle of the order power hitter. Small bit of sunshine going forward.

[IanRubbish]

James Wood is a legit middle of the order power hitter. Small bit of sunshine going forward.

Huge ray of elite MVP-caliber sunshine until he becomes a Phillie, but that’s not until 2031.

[Smithian]

22 years old, 300+ ABs in and he is at a .926 OPS and his defense is less bad than last year.

This guy is a stud

[ZimW1N]

Give him the 300 million dollars he deserves and make sure he stays for the next decade.

[IanRubbish]

Give him the 300 million dollars he deserves and make sure he stays for the next decade.

Boras is going to want a lot more than that.  He is gone after 2030.  I'm sure the Lerners will make up some "we offered him x million" nonsense like they did with Harper, Rendon, and Soto, but enjoy him while he's here.

[Smithian]

As I posted before, I’m not spending seven years worrying about his contract. I spent too much time worrying about that stuff with Zimmerman, Strasburg, Rendon, Harper, Soto. Zimmerman contract had a happy ending. Harper left and we won a World Series. Signed Strasburg and would have been better off not. Thankfully Rendon declined. And Soto turned into elite prospects.

It’s a game. I’m worried about this year and less so next year. I’m not worried about signing him up to a contract that may or may not look smart by the time 2040 rolls around.

[Natsinpwc]

This year sucks.  And so will next year.  And seven years from now.  Barring a sale of the team.

[varoadking]

This year sucks.  And so will next year.  And seven years from now.  Barring a sale of the team.

The Lerner's have "Snydered" the Nats...

[IanRubbish]

The Lerner's have "Snydered" the Nats...

They have.  The rebuild from the rebulld from the rebuild in 2031 should be exciting though.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/fangraphs-weekly-mailbag-june-28-2025/

Ben Clemens's take on whether Wood can take a step forward by doing things that Riley Greene is doing is behind a pay wall. Clemens says their approaches are different (Greene pulls and elevates with a severe uppercut) while Wood is all fields, maybe even leans oppo, and has a level swing. The fix for Greene was to swing early in counts more often. For Wood, any contact in the air goes out, but Clemens doesn't think the key is changing his swing. Rather, he notes Wood swings at balls in the zone at the 3rd lowest % in baseball (38.5%).

Because of that hellacious swing, Wood has some chase and also some swing-and-miss to his game. He ran some ugly strikeout rates in the minors, and he clearly came to the big leagues determined not to flail his way to failure. It’s true that Greene also used to take more pitches – but not as many as Wood. Wood’s swing rate of 38.5% is third-lowest in baseball over the past two years.

Rather than simply swinging more, Clemens say Wood mostly needs to refine his batting eye.

Wood is 22 and tearing up the majors even while barely swinging. I’d let him lean into that approach for now rather than trying to chase more results on contact – he’s already so good at that. The Aaron Judge path – develop a great batting eye to go along with otherworldly power – is my preferred future for Wood.

[imref]

First four-time IBB in a game since Barry Bonds in 2004.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/so-youve-intentionally-walked-james-wood-what-now/

Compares the James Wood 4 IBB game to the other times is has happened in MLB history. Suggests it was one of the least likely times for a hitter to be IBB'd 4 times. Not an extra inning game, in an era where IBBs are uncommon, and, rather than a weak hitter behind him, the Garcia / Rosario combination was above average this season and relatively close to Wood's wRC+. That compares to Bonds 4 times, all with a 200+ wRC+ gap to the next hitter, and Gary Templeton's, when he had the pitcher's slot behind him. Besides Templeton, Maris's 4 IBB game the season after his 61 HR campaign had one of the closest gaps, and Ted Kluseweski actually was a worse hitter that season than the hitter behind him.

[imref]

Heading to the HR derby!

[Smithian]

I need a couple beers in me and I'll have a great post about how lucky we are to see Harper then Soto then Wood. Was looking at Wood '25 stats versus Soto '19 and felt a bit frisky. Not ready for a  big sweeping post, but getting close.

[imref]

I need a couple beers in me and I'll have a great post about how lucky we are to see Harper then Soto then Wood. Was looking at Wood '25 stats versus Soto '19 and felt a bit frisky. Not ready for a  big sweeping post, but getting close.

i saw earlier that through his first 162 games Wood is basically the same player as Soto and Harper were at the same point.

[imref]

Wood is scheduled to go first in the HR derby tonight at 8PM