NEW YORK – James Wood made a home run robbery off one of the league’s top sluggers look casual at the Citi Field right-field wall early in the Nationals’ 5-4 win on Thursday afternoon.
Wood needed all 6-foot-6 of his lanky frame -- and then some -- to take away a home run from Juan Soto, who was making a bid for a homer in his third straight game.
The Nats' 23-year-old right fielder casually tracked the 108.1 mph fly ball all the way back to the wall right at the 370-feet marking, seeming unsure if he was even going to have a chance at it. But at the very last moment he took a leap, extending his glove over the wall and bringing the home run bid back with it.
Washington starter Miles Mikolas raised his arms in praise of Wood, and the young outfielder smiled nonchalantly back at him.
Soto -- who has been a bright spot in a Mets lineup that has struggled to score runs early on this season -- could only shake his head as he jogged back to the dugout. According to data provided by Weather Applied Metrics, Soto’s fly ball was blown in three feet by the wind and would have cleared the fence about four feet higher in the air in calm conditions. In that case, the ball would not have been robbable.
Four innings later, Wood laid out in right field to grab a Bo Bichette lineout off Mitchell Parker, which had a .777 expected batting average. Not only did Wood end the inning, he recorded his second five-star catch (10% catch probability) of his career – both happening in the past 10 days.
Wood's mom, Paula, was clearly watching and had a little something to say:
This wasn’t the first time this season Wood has snagged a home run from his opponent. On April 6, he hustled over to the right-field corner at Nationals Park and made an outstretched leaping catch at the bullpen wall to rob the Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman of a home run off Zack Littell. Wood covered 102 feet to get to the ball, then crashed onto the warning track with the out secured as the Nats' relievers rose to their feet in a standing ovation.
Wood has made 24 of his 29 outfield starts in right field this season. He has gotten into a consistent routine after making all of his defensive starts in left field the previous two seasons (79 in 2024, 123 in ‘25).
Just last week, Wood made two of the toughest catches in terms of catch probability in Major League career.
He achieved his first five-star catch on April 21 against the Braves. Wood dashed with a sprint speed of 27 feet/second to make a diving catch and nab a lineout by Eli White off Foster Griffin.
The next day, Wood pulled off a 30% catch probability play on Michael Harris II’s sharp lineout off Parker.
Wood has improved his success rate on plays rated two stars or higher (a 90% catch probability or lower). He entered Thursday with a 41.2% success rate (7 of 17) on plays that are two stars or higher. In his first two seasons, he recorded a 26% success rate (19 of 73).