James Wood, the highly touted Washington Nationals prospect who has developed into a force in the minors, is expected to make his major league debut Monday against the New York Mets at Nationals Park, a source familiar with the matter told The Washington Post on Friday.
Wood, 21, began the year with the Class AAA Rochester (N.Y.) Red Wings. The 6-foot-7 outfielder, whose long-awaited call-up has generated buzz throughout the season, is hitting .346 with a 1.036 OPS in 51 games for the Red Wings.
The Nationals, in the middle of a 10-day trip, are set to meet the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida later on Friday.
“I cannot confirm or deny the rumors,” said Martinez, who smirked when asked before Friday’s game about the reports of Wood’s call-up. “But I will tell you this — I’m very excited for when he does get here. He’s an outstanding kid. I’m looking forward to working with him.”
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A powerful left-handed hitter, Wood has hit 51 home runs in his minor league career, including 26 a season ago. Wood, who grew up in Maryland, landed in the Nationals’ system in 2022 — one of the prospects the San Diego Padres sent to Washington as part of the trade for Juan Soto. Also part of that deal: MacKenzie Gore, the left-handed pitcher in line to start Monday.
“We’ve got to remember, he’s still 21 years old,” Martinez said. “He’s still learning about himself, but he’s got unbelievable talent.”
The Nationals’ 40-man roster is full, so they will have to trade or designate a player for assignment to clear space before Wood debuts Monday. Eddie Rosario, whom the Nationals signed to a minor league deal in March, seems the likeliest option. The Nationals could try to find a team willing to trade for Rosario, the 2021 National League Championship Series MVP for the Atlanta Braves who has a .556 OPS this season. But that could prove difficult, even with Rosario’s postseason experience.
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The Nationals have four other outfielders on the roster: Lane Thomas, Jacob Young, Jesse Winker and Harold Ramirez, who signed a minor league deal with Washington this month after being designated for assignment by the Tampa Bay Rays. Winker was taking practice reps at first base with Joey Meneses ahead of Friday’s game, perhaps signaling how the Nationals want to incorporate both Winker and Wood into the lineup.
Wood, bright and soft-spoken, has long carried with him the weight of expectations. And his mother, Paula, has said that he has “always been obsessed with baseball in a different way than anything else in his life.” His manager in Rochester indicated that he might be ready for a bigger stage.
“Obviously, that’s not my choice,” Red Wings Manager Matthew LeCroy said in May. “But he’s done enough right now that I would feel confident, if they asked me [about calling him up], [to say], ‘Hey, man, might as well.’”
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Wood is in the middle of his fourth season in the minors. He started the 2023 season in high Class A Wilmington and jumped to Class AA Harrisburg after just 42 games. This year, he participated in his first big league spring training and impressed.
Wood didn’t make Washington’s Opening Day roster — the Nationals wanted to give him more time to develop. Martinez has raved about Wood’s commitment to learning and improving his approach at the plate. And as he began to dominate Class AAA pitching, the noise around him continued to grow. Wood suffered a right hamstring injury in mid-May, which sidelined him for a few weeks. He returned June 18 and has played in just six games.
When the Nationals traded Soto, they hoped to build a young core that would make them competitive again. Two pieces of that core — Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams — are already in Washington and have had strong starts to the season. Other players involved in the Soto trade include outfielder Robert Hassell III, who is on the injured list in Class AA Harrisburg, and right-hander Jarlin Susana, who has allowed two runs or fewer in his past five starts for low Class A Fredericksburg.
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“We lost a really good player, as we all know,” Martinez said, referring to Soto. “But to get the quality of players that we got and they’re helping us out in the big leagues right now, with more to come, it’s exciting.”
Wood is set to arrive in the majors not long after outfielder Dylan Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft, joined the Red Wings. Crews, 22, was promoted to Rochester last week.
Wood will join a young Nationals team that has at times surprised this season as the franchise’s reboot continues to take shape. Abrams and infielder Luis García Jr. have been two of the team’s better hitters. The speedy Young has impressed in center field, and Washington’s pitching — including Gore and two of his fellow starters, Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker — has shined. Right-hander Josiah Gray, an all-star in 2023, has spent most of the season on the injured list but could rejoin the team in the near future.
And now Wood’s moment looms as Washington’s years-long rebuild takes another big step.
