Two more players acquired in the Juan Soto trade are now All-Stars: James Wood and MacKenzie Gore.

Wood and Gore were officially named to the National League All-Star team today, each of them selected by their fellow players to represent the Nationals at next week’s Midsummer Classic in Atlanta.

CJ Abrams, who played in last year’s game in Texas, was not selected this time from a deep class of NL shortstops, but there’s still a chance he could find his way to Truist Park as roster replacements are announced in the coming days.

For Wood and Gore, today’s announcement is further validation of their respective career ascensions, culminating with their performances through the first half of this season. Wood, who already accepted an invitation to the Home Run Derby last week, entered the day with a .944 OPS, third-best in the NL. Gore ranks third in the league with 131 strikeouts and 12th with a 3.11 ERA.

“Those two guys have played really well this half, and I hope they keep it going,” manager Davey Martinez said. “But it says a lot about this organization. We’d love to win some more games moving forward, but the progress for our young players has been a lot better. We’re excited about that.”

The honor for Wood comes barely one year following his major league debut, the 22-year-old having already established himself as one of baseball’s best offensive players, regardless of age. He entered the day with an .868 career OPS, 15th best among all major league hitters since July 1, 2024. His .374 on-base percentage ranks ninth over that time span.

Wood opened this season hot and, aside from a mini-slump in early June, has remained hot through the last three months. His All-Star selection felt like a given throughout, but that didn’t make today’s revelation any less satisfying.

“It’s definitely something you put your eyes on,” he said. “It’s just cool to be honored. It’s cool to be able to represent and to get the invite.”

Gore, likewise, has had the look and feel of an All-Star throughout the season’s first half. The 26-year-old struck out 13 while retiring 17-of-18 batters faced in his Opening Day gem against the Phillies, has ranked among the league leaders in strikeouts and maintained an ERA slightly below or above 3.00 for months.

Both players were voted in by their peers, the Nationals getting two All-Stars without the league needing to use one of its handful of final slots to make sure the club was represented.

“That’s awesome,” Gore said of being elected by players. “It’s one of those things you don’t really know what exactly to say about that. It’s just cool to see the kind of respect guys give you. That’s all you can ask for as a player, so that’s pretty cool.”

Wood, who will share the spotlight with seven fellow contestants in Monday night’s Home Run Derby, will come off the bench in Tuesday’s game, replacing one of the NL’s three starting outfielders (Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ronald Acuña Jr.) Gore, whose 3-8 record belies his overall success, should get an inning of relief, with the Nationals juggling their rotation schedule this week to make sure the lefty will be rested and eligible for his All-Star debut.

Though they hoped Abrams (an Atlanta-area native) would join them next week, Wood and Gore nevertheless know their teammate already has established himself as one of the best shortstops in the game. And three years after the blockbuster trade that completely remade both the Nationals and Padres organizations, the local club (in spite of its well-below-.500 record) can now say three of the five prospects acquired in the Soto deal have become All-Stars.

“For us in the organization, I can’t say enough about what we did in that trade, getting these guys,” Martinez said. “They come here with a heavy bag, per se. And they’re fitting the bill. They’re doing exactly what we thought they could do, and we’re looking forward to getting another guy up here, hopefully soon. But these guys have been tremendous. They’re the backbone of our organization and what we’re trying to build here.”