Wood's 2nd homer of year brings boost of confidence, and sign of what's to come

WASHINGTON -- On Sunday morning, manager Blake Butera checked in with James Wood before the series finale against the Dodgers.

The slugger had hit .111 in his first eight games of the season, and he had been 1-for-9 in the first two games in spite of some hard-hit balls.

“I asked him to give me some feedback, just where he is mentally, physically,” Butera said. “And he's like, ‘I feel like I'm really good.’”

The skipper expressed his continued confidence to Wood, then penciled him into the leadoff spot to face right-hander Roki Sasaki.

“I know he’s a little frustrated because usually when you’re feeling good, you see some results,” Butera said. “But he’s feeling good, which is good for us. Now we just need those results to come.”

Wood came through with a monster three-run homer in the fourth inning of the Nationals’ 8-6 loss to the Dodgers.

Behind 0-2 in the count to Sasaki, Wood jumped on a splitter down the middle and crushed it a Statcast-estimated 416 feet to center field at 107.6 mph, driving in Keibert Ruiz and José Tena in the process to give the Nats a.

"He threw me a good fastball to hit, and I took that. It wasn't really what I was looking for,” said Wood. “He threw a good slider, and then left a splitter that I was able to do something with."

The home run was Wood’s second of the season and his first since March 28 at Wrigley Field. It was also the furthest-hit homer by a Nationals player this season.

Wood lifted the homer with a launch angle of 34 degrees, tied for the fourth-highest of his career. He has hit 15 home runs to straightaway center field since the start of last season, ranking third in baseball behind only Aaron Judge (23) and Shohei Ohtani (23).

“It was a really good at-bat,” Butera said. “With two strikes, he homered, too. He did a good job to stay on that pitch.”

The pitch that Wood demolished was just as notable as the homer itself.

Sunday marked Wood’s first home run off an offspeed pitch since June 23 of last season against Padres left-hander Yuki Matsui. From June 24, 2025, through Saturday, Wood had gone just 6-for-45 versus offspeed pitches, all without a home run.

With three dingers off a splitter in the past two seasons, Wood tied the total of all Nationals hitters combined over that period.

"I just saw it pop,” said Wood. “Yesterday -- it's obviously a different pitch, but it was kind of similar to Glasnow. There was a pitch -- not necessarily in the same spot -- but I kind of just froze on one. I was just able to pull the trigger on this one."

As for the opposing pitcher, Sasaki had not allowed a home run off his splitter in the regular season or postseason until Wood’s blast on Sunday.

"[An] 0-2 [count], I wanted it in the dirt. He could have bounced it in the grass, I don't care,” said Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing. “And look, it's part of pitching. You're gonna make mistakes. You're gonna lose a couple. But at the same time, it's a maturity thing, and hopefully, obviously, he learns from it with that situation. But you usually try and take advantage of 0-2 counts, and especially [with] a guy that's been struggling at the plate recently."

In addition to his home run, Wood sliced a ground ball 105.1 mph to third base that resulted in a forceout. From what Butera has seen in recent games, he believes Wood is “getting closer and closer every day.”

“You’ve just got to go out there and try and put a barrel on the ball,” said Wood. “After you hit it -- there’s not really not much you can do after that. But I’m just trying to consistently put the barrel on the ball, and I feel like eventually good things will happen.”