Washington Nationals left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore and outfielder James Wood will represent the organization in the 2025 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Atlanta. Both are making their first All-Star Game appearance and both were selected by player voting. The 2025 All-Star teams were unveiled earlier this evening during the “2025 MLB All-Star Selection Show” on ESPN.
Gore, 26, entered Sunday ranked second the National League with 131 strikeouts (5th in MLB) and 11.30 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (4th in MLB). He ranks eighth in the National League with 104.1.0 innings pitched and he's tossed at least 6.0 innings 13 times this season, tied for the fourth-most in the National League.
Gore has pitched to a 2.44 ERA (13 ER/48.0 IP), a .213 opponents’ batting average, 47 strikeouts and just three home runs allowed in his last eight starts dating to May 23. He opened the season with a career-high and franchsie Opening Day record 13 strikeouts on March 27 against the Philadelphia Phillies. He added another 13-strikeout performance on April 19 at Colorado. Gore’s strongest outing of the first half came on June 4 vs. Chicago (NL) in which he tossed a season-high 7.0 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and three hits allowed in Washington’s 2-0 victory.
Wood, 22, was one of the top hitters in the National League through the All-Star break. Entering Sunday, he led National League outfielders and ranked in the National League in OPS (3rd, .943), wOBA (4th, .399), win probability added (3rd, 3.22), wRC+ (5th, 158), OPS+ 4th, 167), RBI (4th, 67) and home runs (5th, 23). He ranked second among National League outfielders in slugging percentage (.553), on-base percentage (.391) and walks (57).
Wood is one of five players in Major League Baseball with at least 20 home runs and 10 stolen bases, joining Shohei Ohtani, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Corbin Carroll and Juan Soto. According to Baseball Savant, Wood is in the 99th percentile in hard hit rate (57.2%), the 98th percentile in batting run value (26) and 97th percentile in average exit velocity (94.0 mph). According to FanGraphs.com, Wood leads all National League left fielders with seven defensive runs saved.
Wood ranks second in Major League Baseball with 12 home runs hit harder than 110 MPH behind only Shohei Ohtani (13), and he leads Major League Baseball with four home runs that traveled longer than 445 feet ahead of Aaron Judge (3). Additionally, he paces MLB with 52 batted balls hit harder than 108 MPH, tied with Aaron Judge (52).
In his last 24 games, Wood is hitting .337/.455/607 with three doubles, seven homers, 22 RBI, 20 walks, three stolen bases and 20 runs scored. During this stretch, he became the youngest player in Nationals history (2005-pres.) to record a career-high five hits on July 3 against the Detroit Tigers. All told, he hit .288/.391/.553 with 19 doubles, 23 home runs, 67 RBI, 57 walks, 12 stolen bases and 58 runs scored in 89 games entering Sunday.