Comfortable in big moment, Wood delivers clutch homer

James Wood hasn’t been a big leaguer long, but he’s been a big leaguer long enough to have some experience with big situations at the plate.

And what has the Nationals’ 22-year-old budding star learned from those experiences?

“I feel like if I go up there trying to create a big moment, I’ll get myself into trouble,” he said. “I just try and keep the same approach.”

Wood’s general laid-back persona certainly helps, but it’s another thing to actually put it into practice during a critical moment in a ballgame. What he did Monday night was further evidence he can handle the pressure just fine.

The situation: Bottom of the seventh, Nats already leading the Dodgers 3-2, one out and a runner on second. On the mound: Veteran left-hander Anthony Banda, himself briefly a member of the Nationals bullpen in April 2023, having since reestablished himself as a member of Los Angeles’ championship bullpen.

Wood knew an insurance run there would be huge for a Nats club that was going to try to win the game with a depleted bullpen. His approach was to do whatever he could to get Amed Rosario, leading off second base, across the plate to make it 4-2.

What he did instead was make it 5-2 with one swing of the bat. After working the count to 1-2, Wood got a slider up from Banda. And he did what he’s already shown a remarkable ability to do just 89 games into his major league career: Drive it with authority to the opposite field.

The ball soared to left-center, leaving his bat at 102.9 mph. It found its way into the red seats to the left of the batter’s eye, a 395-foot missile that very much helped seal his team’s eventual 6-4 win.

“The bullpen’s been working hard; they’ve been doing a good job,” Wood said. “Just trying to give them any extra run, I think, was big in that situation.”

Wood found himself in an unfamiliar situation Monday night, leading off for the first time in his career with CJ Abrams sitting due to a tight thigh muscle. Manager Davey Martinez advised the slugger not to change his approach at all; Wood already has one of the most patient eyes on the team.

Sure enough, Wood led off the bottom of the first with a six-pitch walk against Dodgers starter Dustin May. Then he stole second, sliding hard into shortstop Mookie Betts with his 6-foot-7 frame.

This was one of the bigger games he’s played in his brief career to date, facing the defending champs (not to mention the throng of fans they bring with them everywhere they go).

“A lot of Dodgers fans,” he noted after the home game. “I was getting chirped a little bit. But they’re one of the best teams in the league, if not the best. … They brought the atmosphere with them. It was good to match that.”

The cheers may have been louder most of the night for Wood’s counterpart in the leadoff spot. Shohei Ohtani gave the fans what they wanted with a first-inning single, a third-inning homer and a fifth-inning triple.

But the roar was louder when Wood belted his homer in the seventh, a big moment for a young man who continues to feel more and more comfortable with those situations.

“He understands who he is,” Martinez said. “In situations like that, he’s really patient. He’s trying to get a good pitch to hit. When he gets the ball up, he’s dangerous. And he stays on the ball really well. As you see, a lot of his homers are either center or left-center field, because he stays on the ball really, really well.”