Washington Nationals' Former Elite Prospect Primed for MLB Breakout Season
The Washington Nationals are getting prepared for the start of spring training, with hopes being high for the franchise.
Despite winning just 71 games last year, the Nationals felt like they took a bit of a step forward in their rebuild. Washington has done a nice job of stockpiling young talent over the past few years, and that talent is starting to come up and make an impact.
Last season, CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. took significant steps forward in their development. Abrams was named to his first All-Star team, while Garcia put together an All-Star caliber campaign.
In addition to those two players, the Nationals also saw a couple more of their young top prospects make their debut. During the summer both James Wood and Dylan Crews were called up, and both showed some signs of ability.
Jim Bowden of The Athletic recently wrote about some players that he believes will have breakout seasons in 2025. For the Nationals, he chose Wood and highlighted his potential to become a star.
“Wood has a chance to develop into a superstar and I expect big things from him in his sophomore year in the majors," he wrote.
The former second-round pick by the San Diego Padres was one of the key pieces in the Juan Soto trade a few years ago. At just 22 years old, he is still very young and there is a lot of room for improvement, but he certainly flashed the potential that he could be a star in the majors last year.
In 79 games, the young slugger totaled a .264 batting average, nine home runs, 41 RBIs, 14 stolen bases, and 13 doubles. Considering his size, his ability to steal bases and run the bases well is a truly rare thing to see.
As he continues to grow and develop, he has the frame to become an excellent power hitter for Washington, which is something they desperately need.
Even though it was a really impressive stint in the Majors, he does need to work on his chasing of pitches. Wood averaged over a strikeout per game, totaling 97 in 2024. That is a pretty high number, even for a young player. However, it is certainly something that can be fixed and improved upon.
His size alone makes him a rare breed as a baseball player. At 6-7 and nearly 240 pounds, he is approaching a similar build to that of Aaron Judge at the same age.
There is certainly some star potential for Wood, and in 2025 he will be a player to not only watch for the Nationals to have a breakout season but across all of baseball.
