On Thursday afternoon, the Washington Nationals did the unthinkable. After nearly 2 weeks without winning a baseball game, the team scrapped and clawed their way to an improbable 4-2 win over the lowly Colorado Rockies.
The losing streak had begun to draw a lot of criticism from the national media, as cries for Manager Dave Martinez' job grew louder and louder with each loss that piled up. Between fans wearing bags on their heads at the games, chants for ownership to sell the team, and the team continuing to play uninspired baseball, it appeared as if there was a black cloud overhead in the Nation's Capital.
But with the Nationals down to their final out in the 11th inning, the black cloud suddenly went away, and it did so in dramatic fashion. James Wood stepped to the plate against Rockies reliever Seth Halvorsen, who had already saved 2 games in the series, and promptly sent a 1-0 splitter to dead center for a walk-off home run.
It was exactly what the Nationals needed. As many have pointed out, he might have very well saved a couple jobs, as fans had been searching for a proper scapegoat for the team's recent struggles. But nonetheless, Wood only bolstered his All-Star case with his latest act of heroism.
WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT pic.twitter.com/mJmYlHpSta
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 19, 2025
For the season, Wood now carries a .284/.380/.427 slash line as the Nationals head out west, and his .944 OPS currently ranks 6th in the entire league, tied with Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers. Both Freeman and Wood are just .001 points behind Pete Alonso of the Mets, who sits alone in 5th place.
Perhaps even more importantly, outside of single-handedly beating the Rockies on Thursday, as he drove in all 4 of the Nationals runs with a pair of 2-run homers, he reached the 20 home run mark, in what is his first career big league season at just 22-years-old. He is blossoming into a true MVP candidate before our very eyes, and his walk-off blast put him in the same rarified air as a few Nationals legends.
Courtesy of the Nationals Communications team, Wood has now joined an exclusive club that includes Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, and Ryan Zimmerman, as they are now the only 4 players in team history to achieve 20 homers in a season before turning 23-years-old. If my memory serves correct, those guys were all pretty great, and Wood has a chance to potentially be even better.
With his 20th home run today, James Wood joined Bryce Harper, Juan Soto and Ryan Zimmerman as the only four Nationals to hit 20 home runs in a season before turning 23 years old.
— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) June 19, 2025
Perhaps the most insane part of all of this is the fact that Wood has only played in 75 games in his first full big league season so far, not even officially halfway through the season. Currently, he is on pace for 42 home runs and well over 100 RBIs, and if he played for a slightly better team, he would likely be in the top 3 of NL MVP voting.
While Zimmerman and Soto both had the distinction of finishing top 2 or better in MVP voting during their time in DC, Wood has a chance to do so as well, and it's fair to wonder just how much better Wood can continue to get as he enters his athletic prime. His defense in left field has improved tremendously, as he is now a plus defender after being pretty abysmal last season, and of course he is still a threat on the basepaths as well.
Wood is a true 5-tool talent, and one of the best players in baseball at such a young age, and I have a pretty great feeling that this latest feat won't be the only franchise record he breaks in his career. Cheers to James Wood, and thank you for at least temporarily ending the recent misery.
How many times have you voted for James Wood to be an All-Star today? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.