Earlier today, the 22-year-old superstar phenom outfield of the Washington Nationals, James Wood, announced that he will be in attendance in Atlanta for MLB All-Star Weekend. While he was undoubtedly snubbed from being selected as a starter for the actual game, Wood is going to find his way to Atlanta after all.
Again, while he has yet to be officially named an All-Star, as the names of the reserves and individual team representatives have not been chosen, Wood announced via his own instagram that he will be competing in the Home Run Derby.
This year's field is already shaping up to be a very fun one, as Cal Raleigh from the Seattle Mariners and Ronald Acuña Jr. from the Atlanta Braves have both already announced their intentions to be in the competition as well. Acuña will definitely be the fan favorite, as he was chosen to be an outfield starter in the All-Star Game, and his presence in the derby should get the home crowd into it.
Wood will look to captivate the fans with his majestic, jaw-dropping power, and his swing is just so easy and repeatable that I think he has a great chance to win the entire competition. As pointed out by media members like Stanford Steve of ESPN, James Wood has become appointment television, and his presence in the Home Run Derby field this year only validates that.
WELCOME TO HOLLY WOOD pic.twitter.com/iBqECOCbbp
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 22, 2025
If Wood performs as well as I believe he will, it will give him a national spotlight that he has sorely lacked throughout the course of this season with being stuck on a last place ballclub. With All-Star Game voting becoming nothing more than a popularity contest at this point, it's no surprise that Wood finished 9th among National League outfielders, despite having the clear numbers to easily be named a starter.
You might remember the previous two participants from the Washington Nationals who have competed in this event, Bryce Harper and Juan Soto. Both of them won the event previously, with Harper winning in 2018 in front of the hometown fans in DC, and Soto taking it home in 2022 at Dodger Stadium. Harper competed once in 2013 at Citi Field as well, in what was just his 2nd season in the league.
Wood will look to make the Nationals 3/3 in terms of having their superstar outfielders compete and win a Home Run Derby, but unlike the last two winners, who both left the franchise shortly after winning the competition, hopefully Wood will be around for a LONG time. Harper won the Derby in 2018 and immediately left that offseason for Philadelphia, and Soto was traded less than a month after he won the Derby in 2022.
We will be watching and cheering hard for James Wood, and I'm curious to see how the rest of the field will shake out with the game and All-Star Weekend festivities less than 2 weeks away. The Nationals should have a fair amount of representation at numerous events for the weekend, and now we must see which players on the team will officially be selected.
Do you think James Wood will win the Home Run Derby? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.