Nationals Star James Wood Takes Home MLB Honor After Red-Hot Week
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The mood around the Washington Nationals is different after the weekend.
Following a surprising sweep over the Milwaukee Brewers, there is a whole lot more excitement about this young group. The offense continues to be red-hot in the early going of the season, and after a rough showing in the previous three series, the pitching staff bounced back in a major way against the Brewers.
Now, the Nationals head into a four-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates with some momentum. It won't be easy to keep things rolling against a high-end starting rotation like the Pirates have, but the good news James Wood is on fire at the plate and earned himself MLB's National League Player of the Week honors after what he did this past week.
James Wood Named NL Player of the Week
By going 12-for-22 at the plate with three home runs, six extra-base hits and eight RBIs, Wood reminded everyone of what he can do with the bat in his hands. That came after a slow start to the season where the 23-year-old had a slash line of .125/.222/.350 with more strikeouts (17) than hits (five) before this past week began.
Wood was hitting the ball hard despite those poor numbers, so the hope was that things would eventually click for him. That happened and then some for the star slugger, as he powered Washington to a massive series sweep and now looks like one of the premier young players in the league once again.
Advanced Numbers on James Wood Are Ridiculous
The concern about Wood is always going to center around strikeouts. He has a K rate of 28.4% which is in the 21st percentile, and he also has a whiff rate of 34.2%, which is in the 12th percentile. Still, what he does when he makes contact with the ball is special, as his Baseball Savant page is nothing short of impressive.
His expected batting average of .282 and expected slugging percentage of .580 are in the 77th and 94th percentile, respectively. That suggests Wood will be able to continue his strong form at the plate, especially when looking at additional underlying advanced statistics.
Not only is his barrel rate of 24.4% in the 97th percentile, but his hard hit rate of 58.5% is in the 96th percentile. Combine those numbers with an average exit velocity of 94.5 mph and a bat speed of 76.2 mph -- which are in the 96th and 97th percentiles, respectively -- and it appears like Wood is on his way to having another impressive season when it comes to power numbers.
If that's indeed the case, then Wood will likely rack up even more NL Player of the Week honors this year as he continues to make his push for being one of the best offensive players in the MLB.
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai