We've reached the final week of the year, so it's time to look back at the Nationals' most significant stories of 2025. We continue the series today with a breakout season by a former top prospect that was long promised …
James Wood’s major league debut on July 1, 2024, of course, was highly anticipated. At the time, he was the top prospect in baseball with a lot of expectations surrounding him. Not only was he one of the five prospects the Nationals got in return from the Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell in 2022, but the Rockville, Md., native had returned to play for his hometown team.
Sure enough, he impressed over his first three months in the majors, hitting nine home runs, 13 doubles and four triples with 41 RBIs, 14 stolen bases, a .264 average and .781 OPS in 79 games.
That set expectations sky high for him entering 2025, his first full big league season. And he delivered in the first half.
In his first 87 games through July 3, Wood slashed .294/.395/.563 with 23 homers, 19 doubles, 67 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. He posted a .958 OPS that ranked among the league leaders, while he was on pace for more than 40 homers, 120 RBIs and 100 walks for the season.
That phenomenal run not only got Wood selected to his first All-Star Game but also his first Home Run Derby. He performed well in the Derby in Atlanta, but was unfortunate to be one of the first contestants to hit, crushing 16 homers to set the bar high early but giving his rivals an idea of how many they needed to hit to advance. Wood ended up just missing the second round.
But as is the fear of many hitters who participate in the Derby, Wood returned for the second half a completely different hitter. Having already ended the first half in a 3-for-29 slump, he slashed a paltry .212/.294/.333 with only three homers, three steals and 25 walks over his first 57 games out of the break.
Worst of all, Wood’s strikeout rate shot up. He had 99 strikeouts in only 248 plate appearances over those first 57 games of the second half. He entered the season’s final week with an unfortunate chance to break Major League Baseball’s single-season strikeout record of 223, set by the Diamondbacks’ Mark Reynolds in 2009.
But to his credit, Wood finished 2025 strong. Over his final five games, he went 7-for-20 with four homers, one double and five RBIs. And although he came close, he did not break the strikeout record, finishing with a total of 221.
Despite his second-half slump, Wood still finished his first full season with a .256/.350/.475 slash line, .825 OPS, 31 home runs, 38 doubles, 15 stolen bases and 85 walks. And he led the Nats in Wins Above Replacement, both by Baseball Reference’s metric (3.7) and FanGraphs’ (3.3).
He had the most RBIs by a Nationals player since Soto in 2021, and the most homers and doubles since Anthony Rendon in 2019. All as a 22-year-old.
Yes, his strikeout rate is a concern. But Wood is still one of the more patient hitters in the game, so there’s reason to believe he can cut it down. And yes, his defense isn’t always perfect. But new manager Blake Butera said at this month’s Winter Meetings that the left fielder is already working on his field work with new bench coach Michael Johns down in Florida.
Wood’s star potential is off the charts. His first half proved that. There will be plenty more All-Star selections to come. Maybe not as many for the Home Run Derby after his struggles in the second half. But if he can stretch that first-half success over a full season, MVPs surely are not out of the question. Maybe even some rings.
When that happens, we’ll look back at 2025 as the season when Wood went from “one of those prospects for Juan Soto” to a household name throughout the league.