James Wood

Note: This page is for OF James Wood who made his major league debut in 2024; for others with a similar name, click here.

James Irvin Wood

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 6' 7", Weight 240 lb.
High School St. John's College High School, IMG Academy
Debut July 1, 2024

Born September 17, 2002 in Rockville, MD USA

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Outfielder James Wood was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2021 amateur draft by the San Diego Padres out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, a facility dedicated to young persons of high school age expected to pursue a career in professional sports. He had started his high school years in his home town of Washington, DC, attending St. John's College High School. He received a signing bonus of $2.6 million, more than double his slot value (he was selected #62 overall), in order to dissuade him from attending college. He had moved to Florida to focus on baseball after previously playing basketball in his first years of high school. Both his father and older sister were college basketball players.

He was first assigned to the ACL Padres, where he played 26 games, hitting .372/.465/.535. After this very strong beginning, he moved up to the Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League in 2022, where he played 50 games, in addition to another 5 with the ACL Padres, presumably on a rehabilitation assignment. On August 2nd, he was included in a blockbuster trade with the Washington Nationals, in which San Diego acquired OF Juan Soto and 1B Josh Bell in return for a slew of prospects, including, in addition to James, SS C.J. Abrams, OF Robert Hassell, Ps Mackenzie Gore and Jarlin Susana, and major league 1B Luke Voit. For Wood, it was a homecoming, as he was born and had grown up in the Maryland suburbs of Washington. He was assigned to the Fredericksburg Nationals to finish the season. In 76 games between the three stops, his batting line was .313/.420/.536, with 12 homers and 62 RBIs. He was named a Padres organizational All-Star even if he completed the season in another system, was a postseason All-Star in the California League and was named the top prospect in the Carolina League.

In 2023, Wood started the year in the South Atlantic League with the Wilmington Blue Rocks, then earned a promotion to the Harrisburg Senators of the AA Eastern League. He was named to play for the National League team at the 2023 Futures Game in Seattle, WA and in 129 games overall, his batting line was .262/.353/.520. He hit 28 doubles, 8 triples and 26 homers, scored 80 runs and drove in 81. He was once again an organizational All-Star, although this time with the Nationals.

He started the 2024 season in AAA with the Rochester Red Wings, where he was hitting a scorching .353 after 52 games, with an OBP of .463 and a slugging percentage of .595; his OPS of 1.058 was the highest in all the minor leagues. On June 28th, the Nationals announced that he was being called up to make his debut in the Nation's Capital. By then, he was ranked the #3 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline. He made his major league debut on July 1st, starting in left field and batting sixth for the Nationals against the New York Mets. He hit a single off David Peterson in his first big league at-bat in the 2nd, and reached base twice more in the game - on an error in the 9th and on a walk in the 10th. He showed tremendous calm and poise that day, and was one of two runners on base when the game ended with a 9-7 win by the Mets after a wild 10th inning that saw 10 runs being scored by the two teams. His first career two-homer came on July 6th, in a 14-6 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in a game in which he also drive in 5 runs, as the national media was starting to pay attention to the Nats and their numerous and very talented young players. In 79 games in his rookie season, he hit .264 with 9 homers and 41 RBIs, for an OPS+ of 122.

If Wood had a promising rookie season, he took another big step forward in 2025. By the end of June, he had basically obliterated all of the numbers he had put up the previous season, as on the first anniversary of his call-up, he had already hit 22 homers and driven in 64 runs. He was widely expected to be named to the All-Star team for the first time as he was clearly his team's best hitter. On June 29th, he was paid huge compliment by the Los Angeles Angels as he became the first player since Barry Bonds in 2004 to be issued four intentional walks in a single game; in fact, since intentional walks became an official statistic in 1955, only five players had ever received four deliberate free passes in a game. Shortly after that, he confirmed his presence at the All-Star Game's Home Run Derby and on July 3rd had the first five-hit game of his career, going 5-for-5 with a homer and 3 runs scored in an 11-7 win over the Detroit Tigers. However, after that great start, he had a rough second half, batting just .223 in 62 games after the All-Star Game, with 7 homers and an OPS of .690 - more than 200 points below his first half number. Overall, he finished at .257 in 157 games, with 31 homers and 94 RBIs, for an OPS+ of 132. He also led the National League with 221 strikeouts, although he also walked 85 times, so he was not just flailing wildly at every pitch.

On May 19, 2026, he hit the first grand slam of his career, in truly spectacular fashion. The Nats were trailing 5-0 against the New York Mets in the 2nd inning when he came up with bases loaded against Nolan McLean. He drove the first pitch to deep left center and OFs Nick Morabito (who was making his major league debut) and Tyrone Taylor converged towards the ball, but it bounced off Morabito's glove as he slammed into the wall, while Taylor lost track of the ball. Meanwhile, Wood was racing around the bases at elite speed, taking only 15.15 seconds to round them as everyone crossed the plate on the play. It was the first inside-the-park grand slam in the majors since Raimel Tapia had hit one in 2022, and the Nationals went on to win the game, 9-6.

When he was attending St. John's College High School in Washington, DC before moving to the IMG Academy, he was a classmate of Azzi Fudd, who went on to her own distinguished athletic career. She was a guard on the University of Connecticut basketball team that won a national championship in 2025, and was named the outstanding player of the Final Four. The two of them were close friends, and when Fudd was honored by the Nationals for her exploits by being invited to throw the ceremonial first pitch before a game on July 21st, Wood acted as her catcher.

Notable Achievements[edit]

2-time NL All-Star (2025 & 2026)
20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2025)
30-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2025)

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James Wood

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