Despite his sluggish second half, James Wood’s total production this season still earned him recognition as one of the best hitters in baseball.

Wood today was named a finalist for the Silver Slugger Award, one of six National League outfielders in the running for the honor. Three winners will be named Nov. 6, along with the winners for each of the league’s other positions.

Joining Wood on the list of finalists are the Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll, the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Mets’ Juan Soto, the Marlins’ Kyle Stowers and the Cubs’ Kyle Tucker.

Wood finished the season with 38 doubles, 31 home runs, 94 RBIs, a .256 batting average, .350 on-base percentage and .475 slugging percentage, plus 15 stolen bases. Among NL outfielders, the 23-year-old ranked in the top three in doubles, homers and extra-base hits.

It was a dynamic first half of the season, though, that put Wood in a position to finish with those numbers and earned him the first All-Star nod and Home Run Derby invitation of his young career. He entered the break with a .278/.381/.534 slash line, 24 homers and 69 RBIs, then slashed .223/.301/.388 with seven homers and 25 RBIs after that.

PLAYER REVIEW: BRAD LORD

Age on Opening Day 2026: 26

How acquired: 18th round pick, 2022 MLB Draft

MLB service time: 1 year

2025 salary: $760,000

PLAYER REVIEW: JAKE IRVIN

Age on Opening Day 2026: 29

How acquired: Fourth round pick, 2018 MLB Draft

MLB service time: 2 years, 152 days

2025 salary: $774,600

PLAYER REVIEW: MACKENZIE GORE

Age on Opening Day 2026: 27

How acquired: Traded with CJ Abrams, James Wood, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, August 2022

MLB service time: 4 years

2025 salary: $2.89 million

PLAYER REVIEW: DREW MILLAS

Age on Opening Day 2026: 28

How acquired: Traded with Richard Guasch and Seth Shuman from Athletics for Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison, July 2021

MLB service time: 178 days

2025 salary: $760,000

PLAYER REVIEW: PAUL DeJONG

Age on Opening Day 2026: 32

How acquired: Signed as free agent, February 2025

MLB service time: 8 years, 57 days

2025 salary: $1 million

PLAYER REVIEW: NASIM NUNEZ

Age on Opening Day 2026: 25

How acquired: Selected in 2023 Rule 5 Draft

MLB service time: 1 year, 89 days

2025 salary: $760,000

PLAYER REVIEW: BRADY HOUSE

Age on Opening Day 2026: 22

How acquired: First round pick, 2021 Draft

MLB service time: 107 days

2025 salary: $760,000

Jacob Young gets a second crack at becoming only the third Gold Glove Award winner in Nationals history.

Young was named a finalist for the award this morning, one of three competing to be honored as the best defensive center fielder in the National League. He’s joined by the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Cardinals’ Victor Scott II.

The winner will be announced Nov. 3.

It’s the second straight year Young has been named a Gold Glove finalist. Though he seemed to have a stronger statistical case for the award in 2024, he ultimately lost out to the Rockies’ Brenton Doyle.

Young’s case this season isn’t quite as concrete. He was one of only three regular major league position players with a 1.000 fielding percentage. But he ranked second to Crow-Armstrong in FanGraphs’ overall Defensive Rating (17.7 to 12.3) and Defensive Runs Saved (15 to 13). And he ranked third to both Crow-Armstrong and Scott in Statcast’s Outs Above Average (24 to 16 to 14) and Runs Prevented (22 to 14 to 13).

PLAYER REVIEW: CJ ABRAMS

Age on Opening Day 2026: 25

How acquired: Traded with James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, August 2022

MLB service time: 3 years, 130 days

2025 salary: $780,600

PLAYER REVIEW: LUIS GARCIA JR.

Age on Opening Day 2026: 25

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2016

MLB service time: 4 years, 142 days

2025 salary: $4.5 million

PLAYER REVIEW: JOSH BELL

Age on Opening Day 2026: 33

How acquired: Signed as free agent, January 2025

MLB service time: 9 years, 53 days

2025 salary: $6 million

PLAYER REVIEW: KEIBERT RUIZ

Age on Opening Day 2026: 27

How acquired: Traded with Josiah Gray, Donovan Casey and Gerardo Carrillo from Dodgers for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, July 2021

MLB service time: 4 years, 64 days

2025 salary: $6 million

PLAYER REVIEW: RILEY ADAMS

Age on Opening Day 2026: 29

How acquired: Acquired from Blue Jays for Brad Hand, July 2021

MLB service time: 3 years, 171 days

2025 salary: $850,000

PLAYER REVIEW: ROBERT HASSELL III

Age on Opening Day 2026: 24

How acquired: Traded with James Wood, CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Jarlin Susana and Luke from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, August 2022

MLB service time: 85 days

2025 salary: $760,000

PLAYER REVIEW: JACOB YOUNG

Age on Opening Day 2026: 26

How acquired: Seventh round pick, 2021 Draft

MLB service time: 2 years, 37 days

2025 salary: $768,700

PLAYER REVIEW: DAYLEN LILE

Age on Opening Day 2026: 23

How acquired: Second round pick, 2021 Draft

MLB service time: 119 days

2025 salary: $760,000

PLAYER REVIEW: DYLAN CREWS

Age on Opening Day 2026: 24

How acquired: First round pick, 2023 Draft

MLB service time: 1 year, 35 days

2025 salary: $761,800

PLAYER REVIEW: JAMES WOOD

Age on Opening Day 2026: 23

How acquired: Traded with CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, August 2022

MLB service time: 1 year, 91 days

2025 salary: $764,600

OK, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. No, not the naming of the Nationals’ new president of baseball operations. Not the hiring of a new manager. And certainly not the signing of any core young player to a long-term extension. It’s the revisiting of our annual Opening Day predictions!

For 16 years now, my colleagues on the Nats beat have been gracious enough to join me in making all sorts of predictions about the upcoming season. And for 16 years now, we’ve all mostly been embarrassed to look back at all the predictions we got wrong, with an occasional celebration over something one of us actually got right.

The 2025 season did not play out how anyone expected, I think that’s safe to say. But within the big picture, we did come close to getting a few smaller items correct. Right or wrong, it’s not only tradition to publish these traditions on Opening Day. It’s also tradition to republish them at the end of the season, which we now present behind covered eyes and ears …

WHICH NATIONALS WILL BE SELECTED FOR THE ALL-STAR GAME?
Bobby Blanco (MASNsports.com) – MacKenzie Gore, James Wood
Jessica Camerato (MLB.com) – Luis García Jr., James Wood
Al Galdi (Nats Chat Podcast) – MacKenzie Gore, James Wood
Andrew Golden (Washington Post) – Michael Soroka, James Wood
Craig Heist (106.7 The Fan) – CJ Abrams, James Wood
Chelsea Janes (Washington Post) – Luis García Jr., MacKenzie Gore
Bill Ladson (MLB.com honorary) – MacKenzie Gore, James Wood
Tim Shovers (Nats Chat Podcast) – MacKenzie Gore
Spencer Nusbaum (Washington Post) – Luis García Jr., James Wood
Mark Zuckerman (MASNsports.com) – CJ Abrams, James Wood

Correct answer: MacKenzie Gore and James Wood each earned the first All-Star selections of their careers thanks to dominant first halves … which they could not sustain over the second half.