ANAHEIM -- Nationals manager Dave Martinez sees James Wood do all the right things. He works out after games, goes to the training room to get treatment and keeps himself stretched out. He rests – a lot.
“He really takes care of his body,” Martinez said. “... He understands what it takes to play every day, and he comes ready to play every day.”
Wood takes pride in consistency. Through every big swing, every slump and every win and loss, he shows up every day with the same calm presence, never letting any moment get ahead of him. He knows there’s 162 more of those moments coming his way.
“As tough as it is during the time, as tough as it may be, just knowing that there’s another game tomorrow,” Wood said. “It’s just a marathon, really. I think baseball is a great sport in that case. You learn – just by playing – that sort of resilience.”
It’s no coincidence that Wood’s 162nd career game – Saturday’s 8-2 loss to the Angels – also marked his 162nd consecutive game since making his Major League debut with the Nationals on July 1, 2024. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Wood has the third-longest active consecutive starts streak in the big leagues, behind only Matt Olson (702) and Pete Alonso (338). Since the Nationals relocated to Washington in 2005, only Ryan Zimmerman has more consecutive starts than Wood, with 205.
Martinez has even asked Wood if he needs a day off here and there. Wood has given him the same answer every time.
“He wants to play every day,” Martinez said. “I told him, ‘Hey, we’ll keep communicating. If you do need a day, let’s talk about it and try and get you a day off.’ But he loves playing. He loves playing.”
Wood loves learning, too. There was a point earlier in the season when Martinez and the coaching staff had a conversation with him about his positioning in left field and improving his first step off the bat, and Martinez has seen Wood work on it every day since then.
It also shows up in the way Wood works his at-bats. If he gets out on a certain pitch, Martinez said Wood already knows what approach he’ll take the next time he steps in the batter's box.
“It’s been amazing to watch him, the way he thinks, his process,” Martinez said. “... He knows that they might expose him one at-bat. The next at-bat, be careful. Because he’s made some adjustments already.”
That kind of growth mindset is something Wood took into his first Spring Training, and he said it’s stuck with him ever since. It’s how he’s been able to bat .319 with three doubles, six home runs and 19 RBIs with an OPS of 1.045 over his last 18 games since June 10. He’s fourth in the National League in homers (22), RBIs (64), slugging percentage (.553) and OPS (.932).
Simply put, there aren’t many hitters in baseball better than James Wood right now.
“To watch the ball come off his bat, and how loud it is,” Martinez said, “it’s different.”
Through his first full season worth of games in the Majors, Wood has put up 166 hits, 31 home runs with 105 RBIs, while batting .273 with an OPS of .859. Those numbers aren’t too far off from two other notable Nats prospects who came before him. Bryce Harper hit .284 with 31 home runs and 77 RBIs on 175 hits and a .873 OPS through his first 162 games from 2012-13, while Juan Soto also hit 31 homers with 107 RBIs to go along with a .292 average on 171 hits and a .921 OPS.
So how does it feel to be mentioned in the same rarified air as Harper and Soto?
“Those are some of the best guys to put on a jersey,” Wood said. “I definitely strive to be guys like that. They’ve been doing it — Juan Soto for seven-plus years and Bryce Harper for 12-plus years — I know I got a long way to go, but it’s definitely cool.
“Still got a long way to go.”