Fastball

Washington Nationals Call Up One of Baseball's Top Prospects

As the Washington Nationals attempt to come out of their major rebuild, they are calling up James Wood, who is one of the top prospects in the sport.

Brady Farkas

Rochester’s James Wood gets out of the box after an infield single.
Rochester’s James Wood gets out of the box after an infield single. / Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and
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As the Washington Nationals attempt to further come out of their lengthy rebuild, they are promoting James Wood to the big leagues on Friday. Wood is one of the top prospects in the sport.

Per the @MLB account on social media:

James Wood, @MLBPipeline's No. 3 overall prospect, will be called up by the Nationals, per multiple reports including MLB.com's @JessicaCamerato

Wood is currently the No. 3 ranked prospect in all of baseball and is the top prospect in the Nationals organization. He was a second-round pick of the San Diego Padres in the 2021 draft and was traded to the Nationals in the trade that sent Juan Soto to the Padres in 2022.

At Triple-A Rochester this year, Wood is hitting .346 with a sterling .458 on-base percentage. He's got an OPS of 1.036 and has hit 10 homers while driving in 34. He's got 13 doubles and 10 stolen bases.

The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

Listed at 6-foot-7, Wood has the size evaluators have long dreamed would lead to impressive in-game power, and that pop took the next step in 2023 with 26 homers, second-most among Minor Leaguers aged 20 or younger behind only Junior Caminero’s 31.

Wood is just 21 years old now and hits from the left side.

The Nationals will take on the Rays on Friday night in Tampa Bay. First pitch is set for 6:50 p.m. ET as Mitchell Parker (WAS) takes the mound against veteran right-handed Zach Eflin (TBR).

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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