Analyst States That Washington Nationals Young Star Has '50-Homer Potential'
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The Washington Nationals have an impressive group of emerging young players making up the foundation of their roster.
Possessing arguably the most upside is left fielder James Wood, who more than held his own as a rookie in 2024 and is showcasing the immense raw power that he possesses in the first month of the season.
In 79 games and 336 plate appearances as a rookie, Wood hit nine home runs, 13 doubles and four triples with a .427 slugging percentage and 122 OPS+.
Through only 28 games and 122 plate appearances in 2025, he has already launched eight home runs with six doubles.
His raw power is beginning to shine through with a 6.6% home run rate.
Wood is showing better plate discipline, too, dropping his strikeout rate to 26.2% from 28.9% as a rookie and increasing his walk rate from 11.6% to 13.1%.
When he makes contact, it is with authority.
His average exit velocity has increased to 94.1 mph and his hard-hit rate currently sits at 57.7%.
Standing a towering 6-foot-7, he has the kind of power to lead the MLB in home runs once things really start to click. The scariest part about Wood’s home run output this year is that it is coming without him truly tapping into his potential.
His pull rate is only 17.8% in 2025, while his center field rate is 61.6% and right field is 21.9%.
That leaves a lot of room for growth, along with the fact that he isn’t putting the ball into the air with any regularity.
His ground ball rate as a rookie was already too high at 55.1%. In his sophomore campaign, it has actually gone up to 61.6%, which makes his power output to this point all the more impressive.
That is what makes Wood the left fielder to watch the most, in the opinion of David Schoenfield of ESPN.
He could be the next big thing when it comes to All-Star selections for the position because of prodigious power numbers.
“He has a high groundball rate, and almost all his damage has come against fastballs. If he can learn to more consistently get the ball in the air and make the adjustments against breaking balls, he'll have 50-homer potential,” Schoenfield wrote.
Hitting home runs at this rate without being dependent on pulling the ball goes to show just how powerful Wood is.
Only 22 years old, he isn’t even scratching the surface of his incredible potential.
That has to have Nationals fans excited about what the future holds.
