Nationals Emerging Phenom Boldly Predicted To Be Team MVP This Season

Who will be the team MVP for the Washington Nationals in 2025?

Apr 8, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood (29) hits a two run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Nationals Park. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals are starting to play some better baseball of late after a slow start to the season.

Coming into the year, the Nationals didn’t have massive expectations like winning a World Series, but this was a franchise that wanted to see some improvement.

Due to the team rebuilding for the last several campaigns, there have been a lot of losses for Washington.

However, last season started to feel a little bit different. Some of the young talent that they have been developing started to make their way to the Majors and have had a positive impact.

This winter, the team was able to add a couple of solid veterans into the mix to create a lineup that seemingly could be good.

However, a lot of that success hinged on the continued development of their young stars.

Fortunately, things have started out well in that area for the most part. While young players are always going to go into funks and have some growing pains, the Nationals are still very much thinking about the big picture.

With a plethora of young talent, the real question is who will end up being their best player in 2025?

Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report recently predicted the team MVP around the league. For the Nationals, it was their young star, James Wood, taking a massive step forward in 2025 and becoming the most valuable player for the franchise.

“James Wood, one of the top pieces whom the Nationals acquired from the San Diego Padres in the Soto trade in August 2022, drove in 41 runs in his first 79 MLB games last season.”

There is certainly a possibility that it is Wood who is the MVP of Washington in 2025, but it was a bit surprising that All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams wasn’t the choice.

Even though the young slugger dealt with the off-the-field issues in 2024 and struggled down the stretch, he had a great first half of the year and looked like he was on his way to stardom.

The choice of Wood is a bold one, but if things go right, it could be the right choice. The 22-year-old flashed a ton of potential in the second half of last season, slashing .264/.354/.427 with nine home runs, 41 RBI and 14 stolen bases.

Early on, Wood is living up to the expectations in 2025. The slugger has been hot of late, slashing .256/.360/.581 with four home runs and 10 RBI through 12 games.

While jumping a young All-Star in Abrams and claiming being the MVP of the team might be challenging, the 22-year-old seemingly has the potential to accomplish great things this campaign.