Will Wood's strong season set him on path to majors in 2024?

PROSPECT REVIEW: JAMES WOOD

Age on opening day 2024: 21

How acquired: Traded with MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit from Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell in August 2022; originally drafted in second round by Padres in 2021 from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

Ranking: No. 2 (No. 7 overall) per MLB Pipeline, No. 2 (No. 7 overall) per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2024
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

Signing bonus: $2.6 million

2023 levels: High-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg

2023 stats: 129 G, 549 PA, 473 AB, 80 R, 124 H, 28 2B, 8 3B, 26 HR, 91 RBIs, 18 SB, 3 CS, 65 BB, 173 SO, .262 AVG, .353 OBP, .520 SLG, .874 OPS

Quotable: “I don't really look too far into expectations. I kind of just try and go out there and do my thing, and just whatever happens, happens. I don't really try ... I feel like if you try and live up to expectations, you kind of, I don't want to say like you can disappoint, but I don't really look too much into them. I kinda just try and go out there and do my own thing.” – James Wood

2023 analysis: Wood impressed the baseball world quickly when he arrived in the Nationals organization in the 2022 blockbuster trade with the Padres. After finishing the season strong with Single-A Fredericksburg, the Rockville, Md., native climbed national prospect rankings and entered this season as the Nats’ unanimous top prospect.

After spending some time with the big league camp and getting a few calls up to play in major league spring training games, Wood opened his season with Wilmington and picked up right where he left off in 2022.

While getting his first taste of High-A ball and hitting in the Blue Rocks’ pitcher-friendly home ballpark, the left-handed bat slashed .293/.392/.580 with a .972 OPS, nine doubles, five triples, eight homers and 36 RBIs in 42 games.

That earned him an early promotion to Double-A, where he joined Hassell in the Senators outfield. Wood was able to still flash his power and speed to the tune of a .492 slugging percentage, 19 doubles, three triples, 18 homers and 10 stolen bases. But the average wasn’t quite there (.248) and he struck out a lot (124) in 87 Double-A games.

Nevertheless, he was named the Nationals’ minor league Hitter of the Year after leading the system in home runs, RBIs and slugging, while also ranking in the top three in other major offensive categories.

Overall, Wood played mostly center field, but saw his time split pretty much evenly between center and right at Harrisburg.

2024 outlook: With his quick promotion to Double-A in late May, many thought Wood could possibly be on track to make his major league debut sometime this year.

Unfortunately, his average slipped and strikeout rate rose at Double-A and he didn’t even make it to Triple-A Rochester.

But that should not be cause for concern. Wood still had one of the best individual seasons on the Nats farm and should begin next season either with a similar small stint at Harrisburg or straight at Rochester.

We should have a good idea of his timeline to Washington depending on how he handles those two levels in the early parts of next season.

As was the case with Dylan Crews, no one other than Lane Thomas and a possible free agent signing this offseason should block Wood from the majors next year. After the early promotion this year, the Nationals showed patience with their No. 2 prospect by not moving him again when he was still trying to get all of his tools clicking.

It will be hard for fans to control their excitement of possibly seeing Wood and Crews together in the majors next year. But it is still exciting knowing Wood just turned 21 in September and Crews is still only 22, with both knocking on the door sooner rather than later.