Nationals Should Be Extremely Optimistic About Breakout Star's Future
After a slow start to the season, the Washington Nationals are starting to heat up.
The Nationals did not get off to the beginning of the year as they would have liked with a 1-6 start in their first seven games. However, since then, they have been able to go 4-1 and win two tough series against playoff contenders in the National League.
Coming into the campaign, the hope for Washington was to see improvement. For the last two seasons, this is a team that has won 71 games in each of them.
This winter, the franchise might not have made a major splash, but they did have a strong offseason with some nice veteran additions.
While making the postseason might be a stretch, the organization would surely like to see them get closer to the .500 mark this campaign.
If the Nationals are going to take a significant step forward, it will of course be a team effort. However, the franchise has built an exciting young core in their lineup, which has generated a lot of attention for the team.
One of the reasons for their recent turnaround was one of their emerging young stars getting hot.
Jessica Camerato of MLB.com recently wrote about the performance of the Nationals’ young star James Wood as something to believe in going forward.
“He homered in back-to-back games against the Dodgers, including a two-homer, five-RBI night on Tuesday. At only 22 years old, Wood joined Bryce Harper and Juan Soto on the list for most multihomer games by a Nationals player before turning 23," she wrote.
Wood being mentioned in the same category as Bryce Harper and Juan Soto is certainly great company to be in. Both of these players became superstars at a young age with Washington, and the team is hoping that their young slugger can do the same.
The talented outfielder showed signs last year when he was called up that he could be a special player, and now in his first full season, he is really starting to breakout.
In the last seven days, the 22-year-old has been great. He has slashed 300/.440/.800 with three home runs and nine RBI. Furthermore, a lot of that damage has come against left-handed pitching.
Wood is showcasing his ability to be one of the best young outfielders in the game early on, and the Nationals have to be really excited about his start to the year.
If the 22-year-old can keep this up, there is no reason why he can’t be considered for the All-Star team. Washington is no stranger to having young superstars in their outfield, and Wood might be next.
