Nationals' James Wood: Launches three-run homer amid slump
Rotowire
Wood went 1-for-5 with a three-run home run in Thursday's 9-3 win over the Mets.
Wood socked his 26th homer of the season and piled up at least three RBI for the ninth time this year. Fantasy managers are hoping Thursday's showing will get the dynamic outfielder back on track, considering it's been an icy stretch at the plate since the start of July for Wood. Across his last 41 contests, Wood is slashing .203/.280/.329 with four homers, eight doubles, 19 RBI and four stolen bases.
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Nationals' James Wood: On bench Sunday
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Wood is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Phillies, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.
The 22-year-old slugger started the previous 17 games but will receive Sunday off after posting a .232/.284/.362 slash line and 33.8 percent strikeout rate during that stretch. Days off could become more common for Wood as the Nationals juggle five outfielders through four lineup spots, including DH. Luis Garcia will fill in at designated hitter for Wood, opening up second base for Jose Tena.
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Nationals' James Wood: Launches homer No. 25
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Wood went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and two RBI in Saturday's 4-2 win over the Giants.
The young outfielder took Carson Whisenhunt deep for a solo shot in the first inning, the first of three Washington long balls on the afternoon. Wood snapped a 21-game power drought with the blast, a stretch in which he'd slashed a miserable .113/.211/.150 with a 42.2 percent strikeout rate. While that slump dragged his numbers down, on the season Wood still has 25 homers, 14 steals, 64 runs and 73 RBI in 114 contests with an .841 OPS.
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Nationals' James Wood: Day off amid slump
Rotowire
Wood is out of the lineup for Monday's contest in Houston.
Wood struck out in four of five plate appearances in Sunday's win over the Twins and has gone 4-for-46 with 26 strikeouts over his last 12 games. Daylen Lile will shift over to left field and Alex Call will receive a start in right field Monday while Wood gets a day off to regroup.
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Nationals' James Wood: Nabs second July multi-hit game
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Wood went 2-for-4 with two walks, two doubles and an RBI during Monday's 10-8 win over the Reds.
After playing at an MVP level through the month of June, Wood has lost steam and, outside of a 5-for-5 performance on July 3, has had a tough month. He looked more like his early-season self Monday, reaching four out of six times, including two extra-base hits, and knocking in a run. The fact that his July slash line of .212/.305/.327 is still so far off of his season-long line of .275/.379/.526 is indicative of how dominant he was to start the season. The 22-year-old also has 24 home runs and 70 RBI to his name on the year.
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Nationals' James Wood: Five hits, homer in win
Rotowire
Wood went 5-for-5 with a solo home run, an additional RBI and three total runs scored in Thursday's 11-7 win over the Tigers.
Wood led the Nats' offensive outburst with his first career five-hit game, highlighted by an opposite-field homer off Dietrich Enns in the second inning, his 23rd of the year. Wood has at least one hit in his last six games -- he's gone 11-for-20 (.550) in that span. The 22-year-old outfielder has emerged as a star in the first half of the season, slashing .294/.395/.563 with 67 RBI, 58 runs scored and 12 stolen bases across 387 plate appearances.
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Nationals' James Wood: Productive in twin bill
Rotowire
Wood went 2-for-7 with two walks, one RBI, three runs scored and a stolen base across both games of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Tigers.
Wood delivered an RBI single in Game 1 but made his biggest impact in the nightcap, reaching base three times and scoring three runs. The 22-year-old is riding a modest five-game hitting streak and has hit safely in eight of his past 10 games overall, with that 10-game span including two home runs, nine RBI, 10 runs scored and three steals. For the season, he's slashing .283/.387/.547 with 22 homers, 65 RBI, 55 runs scored and 12 stolen bases across 382 plate appearances.
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Nationals' James Wood: Lifts walk-off homer
Rotowire
Wood went 2-for-5 with a pair of two-run home runs during Thursday's 4-3 win over Colorado in 11 innings.
Wood was the lone source of offense for the Nationals Thursday, tagging Chase Dollander for a two-run homer in the fourth frame and delivering a walk-off blast in the 11th off Seth Halvorsen. The 22-year-old outfielder is in the midst of a breakout campaign, having slugged 20 homers and slashing .284/.380/.564 in 329 plate appearances this season. Wood is one of eight players in baseball to reach the 20-homer milestone, and he's launched four round trippers in his last seven outings.
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Nationals' James Wood: Bangs out three hits in loss
Rotowire
Wood went 3-for-4 with a run scored in Thursday's loss to the Mets.
All three hits were singles, but that was a team-wide problem as none of the Nationals' seven knocks on the day went for extra bases. Wood has shaken off a mini-slump to begin June by racking up six hits in the last three games, pushing his slash line on the season back up to .281/.374/.531 with 16 homers, nine steals, 39 runs and 45 RBI in 68 contests.
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Nationals' James Wood: Belts 16th homer
Rotowire
Wood went 1-for-4 with a walk and a solo home run in Friday's win over the Diamondbacks.
The 22-year-old outfielder led off the third inning by crushing a Merrill Kelly cutter over the fence in left-center field, Wood's fourth homer in the last six games and his 16th of the season. He's hit safely in 11 of the last 12 contests, a stretch in which Wood is slashing .364/.463/.795 with 13 runs and 18 RBI as the engine of a suddenly potent Nats offense that is averaging 5.8 runs during that 12-game stretch.
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Nationals' James Wood: Stays hot in Seattle
Rotowire
Wood went 1-for-3 with two walks, a double, a run scored, two RBI and a stolen base in Thursday's extra-inning win over the Mariners.
Seattle did its best to pitch around the young phenom, but Wood still supplied plenty of production when he got a chance. Over his last 15 games, the 22-year-old is slashing .327/.415/.691 with five of his 15 homers and four of his nine steals on the season, while also piling up 14 runs and 19 RBI. Wood does carry a 29.2 percent strikeout rate during that span, but he can afford to whiff now and then given the way he crushes the ball when he makes contact -- he sits in the 99th percentile in MLB in hard-hit rate, the 96th percentile in both barrel rate and average exit velocity, and the 95th percentile in bat speed.
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Nationals' James Wood: Homers, swipes bag in victory
Rotowire
Wood went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, three total RBI and a stolen base in a 9-0 win against Seattle on Wednesday.
Wood's production all came in the latter half of the contest, as he slugged a 435-foot solo homer in the fifth inning, added a walk and steal in the seventh, and capped his performance with a two-run double in the eighth. The budding star already has 15 homers through 242 plate appearances after going deep nine times across 336 plate appearances as a rookie last year. Wood has added eight thefts, 40 RBI, 35 runs and a .287/.380/569 slash line in what is shaping up to be a breakout campaign.
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Nationals' James Wood: Slugs 13th homer
Rotowire
Wood went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 3-0 win over the Giants.
The 22-year-old took Kyle Harrison deep in the first inning, and it turned out to be all the offense the Nats would need. Wood has a .952 OPS in May and continues to march toward a breakout campaign, slashing .284/.380/.543 through 52 games this year with 13 homers, seven steals, 33 runs and 35 RBI.
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Nationals' James Wood: Drives in two runs
Rotowire
Wood went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an RBI single in Friday's 4-3 win over Baltimore.
Wood knocked in an RBI single in the sixth inning before tying things up at 3-3 in the eighth, when he took Keegan Akin deep to center field for a 421-foot solo homer. It was Wood's 11th multi-hit game of the season, and since the beginning of May he has slashed .317/379/.533 with two stolen bases, three home runs and six RBI over 66 plate appearances.
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Nationals' James Wood: Belts solo homer
Rotowire
Wood went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 4-3 loss to Atlanta.
Wood put the Nationals on the board in the fifth inning, when he took Grant Holmes deep to left field for a 413-foot solo home run. It was Wood's 11th home run of the season, and he has already surpassed his long shot tally from the 2024 regular season (nine). Wood has gone 15-for-45 (.333) with two stolen bases, four runs scored two home runs and three RBI since the beginning of May.
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Nationals' James Wood: Racks up four hits Saturday
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Wood went 4-for-6 with a double, two runs and a stolen base in Saturday's 11-6 victory versus Cincinnati.
Wood entered Saturday without a multi-hit effort in his past seven games, but he snapped that streak with his first four-hit performance of the season and the third of his career. The talented young outfielder also swiped a bag for the second straight game, and he's now up to five thefts on the season. Wood has shown solid growth in his sophomore MLB campaign; in addition to already tying last season's mark of nine homers in less than half as many games, he's slashing .273/.384/.547 over 151 plate appearances and has driven in 21 runs.
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Nationals' James Wood: Homers, drives in four in win
Rotowire
Wood went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI in Saturday's 12-11 win over the Rockies.
Wood gave the Nationals a 7-2 lead with a three-run blast that traveled 426 feet in the fourth inning and added an RBI single in the seventh. Over his past 10 games, the 22-year-old has gone deep five times with two three-hit efforts. He's slashing an impressive .253/.356/.573 with seven home runs, 17 RBI, 13 runs scored and three steals across 87 plate appearances so far in 2025.
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Nationals' James Wood: First spring start in left field
Rotowire
Wood (quad) is starting in left field and batting second in Wednesday's Grapefruit League contest versus the Marlins, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.
It's Wood's first start this spring in left field. His other two games were at designated hitter as he dealt with tendinitis in his quad. The talented young outfielder is 2-for-6 with a 1:1 K:BB so far during Grapefruit League play.
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Nationals' James Wood: Getting another start at DH
Rotowire
Wood (quadricep) will serve as the Nationals' designated hitter and No. 4 batter in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros.
The Nationals' initial lineup featured Josh Bell at DH, but that was apparently a clerical error. Wood will end up starting, as expected, after he made his spring debut Friday before getting Saturday off. Wood has been slowed during spring training due to left quad tendinitis, but he was cleared to participate in defensive drills during the past week and should soon resume making starts in the outfield.
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Nationals' James Wood: Slated to serve as DH on Friday
Rotowire
Nationals manager Dave Martinez said Thursday that Wood (quad) will serve as the team's designated hitter during Friday's game against the Mets, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.
It will be Wood's Grapefruit League debut, as he's been slow played so far this spring while battling left quad tendinitis. If Wood gets through Friday's contest with no issues, the Nationals will then decide whether he's ready to play left field in a game.
