Washington Nationals Former ‘Best Prospect in Baseball’ Now a Top Youngster in MLB
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The Washington Nationals have endured a lot of losing on the field since winning the World Series in 2019.
A rebuild has been ongoing, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel growing near as the team has made the most of being able to add quality young talent to the roster as a result of high draft picks and trades.
Winning 71 games in 2024 for the second consecutive season was certainly less than ideal, but how they got to those wins is what provides so much optimism heading into 2025 and the future.
It was their young foundation leading the way.
After some veteran players were moved on from during the summer, the Nationals began promoting some of their top prospects.
Some of them hit the ground running and excelled with the opportunity, such as left fielder James Wood.
Called up to make his debut on July 1, he got off to a tough start but quickly adjusted to MLB pitching and became a reliable contributor while being one of the best young players the league has to offer.
Nick Selbe of Sports Illustrated recently wrote up a piece highlighting the 25 best players under the age of 25 currently in the game and the Washington emerging star was ranked No. 14.
“Wood owned the mantle of “best prospect in baseball” last year, then proved worthy of the title with an impressive debut…If he can keep his strikeouts to a manageable rate, he’ll become among the league’s most intimidating hitters,” he wrote.
Only 22 years old, this is a list that Wood is going to be featured on for multiple years and slowly but surely continue moving closer to the top spot of.
Measured at 6-foot-7, he possesses incredible power potential that was on display at times during his rookie campaign.
He hit nine home runs, 13 doubles and four triples but is only scratching the surface of what he can do at the plate. Once he starts lifting the ball with more consistency, as his 18.2% fly ball rate and 55.1% ground ball rate are both worse than league average, those power numbers are going to improve.
Combined with the prodigious power potential is incredible athleticism and speed.
Wood embodied the Nationals' style of play with aggressiveness on the base paths. He stole 14 bases and was caught stealing eight times. Not a great percentage, but the combination of size and athleticism that he possesses is matched by virtually no one in baseball.
With an improving lineup around him, his production should take off in 2025 as he looks to live up to the billing of his prospect pedigree and lofty ranking on the under 25 list.
