Recently, there has been almost no positives to discuss when it comes to the Washington Nationals. Coming into Thursday's game against the Colorado Rockies, the team has lost 11 consecutive games, and are on the verge of losing 4 straight to the worst team in baseball.
Questions about Nationals Manager Dave Martinez and his job security are continuing to dominate the headlines of this team, and it is perhaps overshadowing a big issue. That issue does not come from any one person in particular, as I'm sure everyone here who's reading this is doing their part.
The issue at hand is the fact that James Wood is currently 9th in National League outfield voting for next month's All-Star Game in Atlanta. If you don't think this is that big of a deal, consider the fact that Wood currently ranks 7th in the majors in OPS, 9th in the majors in RBI, 34th in the majors in batting average, and is tied for 8th in the league in homers.
Also, consider the fact that Wood is just 22-years-old and playing in his first full professional season at the big league level, and then consider the fact that without him, the Nationals would likely have a similar record to the Rockies, who have just 17 wins this season.
This is an absolute travesty, as Wood is currently slotted behind names like Teoscar Hernandez, who ranks 3rd, Juan Soto, who ranks 4th, and Ronald Acuña Jr., who ranks 6th in voting for National League outfielders. In fact, Wood has just about 30,000 more votes than Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who is a very solid player, but nowhere near the caliber of player that Wood is.
As of the latest All-Star voting update, which released earlier this week, Wood's standing has a ton of room for improvement. Among those names I listed ahead of him, Hernandez has been solid but ranks well behind Wood in every significant offensive category. Soto got off to the worst start of his career, but has rebounded nicely over the last couple weeks. Even still, Wood ranks ahead of him in basically every offensive category except for On-Base %, although the margin there is a lot closer than you would think.
But perhaps the craziest name ahead of him is Acuña Jr., who has only played in 23 games in the 2025 season. Granted, he has looked every bit as good as his old self since returning, and some are saying he looks even better than he did in his 2023 MVP season, but you just can't be 6th in voting after only playing 23 games.
Granted, All-Star voting is a popularity contest, and given the fact that the Nationals are struggling so hard right now and the fact that they operate like a small market team is severely limiting the amount of national exposure that Wood is receiving. While Wood could still be the Nationals representative for the Midsummer Classic, he has a very legitimate argument to be starting the game, let alone just being selected.
With Wood sitting 9th in voting and fans being unable to vote for pitchers like MacKenzie Gore, who undoubtedly deserve to receive his first career All-Star nod as well, there is a very legitimate chance that one of either Wood or Gore doesn't get selected for the contest, which would be an absolute travesty.
You can do your part, as will I, by continuing to vote for James Wood every day until voting concludes in about a week for Phase 1 of voting. For questions about how the voting process works, you can check that out here. For anyone who doesn't know where to go to vote for Wood, I will link that here so anyone who's reading has no excuse not to be able to say that they voted for the most deserving All-Star on this team.
Do you think James Wood will make the All-Star Game? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.