James Wood certainly looked like a top prospect on Saturday.
In his sixth career game, the Washington Nationals rookie connected for the first home run of his MLB career, going to the opposite field of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn in the second inning with two men on base.
The Nationals announcers knew where it was going as soon as it started:
According to Baseball Savant, the ball had an exit velocity of 103.3 mph and traveled 383 feet.
Wood followed up an inning later when he drove in two runs with his first career double to go with five RBI for the game.
That’s one of the positive powers that has seen Wood rise up the prospect rankings this season. Earlier this week, Baseball America named the 21-year-old the No. 1 prospect in all of baseballahead of his preseason No. 1 prospect, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Jackson Holliday (Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes also passed Holliday but graduated).
MLB Pipeline also currently has Wood as its No. 2 prospect behind Holliday.
At 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, Wood is a giant by baseball standards and has a toolset that stands out among even top prospects. In addition to his strength, he is an elite runner in both the outfield and on the base trails and has significantly improved his on-base contact skills this season, going from a 33% strikeout rate in Double-A last season to 18. .2% on Triple. -A this season.
Wood is by no means the only top prospect in the Nationals system right now — 2023 No. 2 overall pick Dylan Crews is ranked fourth overall by MLB Pipeline — but he could be the linchpin of their current rebuild. He was the biggest talent acquired in Washington’s franchise-altering Juan Soto trade, which has so far worked out decently for the Nats with shortstop CJ Abrams and starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore already looking like franchise cornerstones.
Wood’s first home run against the Cardinals is also interesting considering the Nationals Could very well have traded Soto to St. Louis. instead of the San Diego Padres.
