Nationals May Have Game Changer They Have Been Looking for After Massive Spring
Ever since the Washington Nationals plunged their organization fully into rebuild mode by trading Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres in 2022, the club has been looking to develop that sort of elite hitter to lead the lineup.
The headlining roster pieces from the return for Soto have looked solid in the years since. C.J. Abrams is now the team's everyday shortstop, and a good one at that.
MacKenzie Gore is the ace of Washington's rotation, and he's an above average arm as a valuable left-handed starter, even if the ace title is more of a reflection of the team's pitching depth than one of his actual caliber.
But one of the young prospects the Nationals got in return from San Diego seems to be on his way to true superstardom, and could even make the blockbuster trade a positive memory for Washington fans while achieving such status.
James Wood, a 6-foot-7, 22-year-old outfielder with a smooth swing and effortless power, has spent spring training building upon the progress he made at the Major League level in 2024.
In doing so, he caught the eye of MLB.com expert David Adler, who included Wood's spring performance on his list of 15 spring training stat lines that really matter as the regular season approaches.
"The 22-year-old, 6-foot-7 lefty slugger showed flashes of his prodigious power as a rookie in 2024, and he's only been building on that in Spring Training 2025," Adler wrote. "Wood has knocked four home runs, all four going to the opposite side of the field, including one 110.8 mph, 16-degree rocket line drive. That lines up with what we saw from him last year, when Wood hit seven of his nine homers to left or left-center."
In 14 spring training games, Wood has produced a triple slash line of .293/.370/.683 with four home runs and nine runs batted in.
Those are the sort of numbers that if they come close to carrying over will have Wood well within All-Star consideration and will allow him to lead what could be a formidable lineup alongside Abrams, fellow young star Dylan Crews and new acquisition Nathaniel Lowe.
After seeing Bryce Harper walk out the door for nothing and then dealing Soto just a few years later, it seemed like the Naitonals were doomed to wander the baseball wilderness for the foreseeable future, stuck in a loaded NL East division and lacking much in the way of superstar talent.
Nobody could have predicted just how helpful the return the team got from San Diego in the Soto trade would be, and if Wood continues to develop, he has every chance to join Harper and Soto as the next megastar to lead Washington into a contention window.
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Kyle Morton has covered various sports from amateur to professional level athletics. A graduate of Fordham University, Kyle specializes in MLB and NHL coverage while having previous bylines with SB Nation, The Hockey Writers, HighSchoolOT, and Sports World News. He spent time working the beat for the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes and is an avid fan of the NHL, MLB, NFL and college basketball. Enjoys the outdoors and hiking in his free time away from sports.