WASHINGTON -- It is unsurprising when Nationals sensation James Wood slams a home run with a 114.3 mph exit velocity, like he did on Monday against the Cardinals’ Ryne Stanek. The ball traveled a Statcast-projected 409 feet off a 99.3 mph fastball.
It makes sense that all four of Wood's home runs this season jumped off his bat at 107 mph or harder.
But Wood is also generating 100-mph exit velocity on singles, as he did in his first two at-bats Wednesday afternoon in a 6-1 loss to the Cardinals in the series finale at Nationals Park.
Wood's first-inning single to center field off Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy left his bat at 116.0 mph, his hardest-hit ball this season and the fifth-hardest hit this season across the Majors.
His second single was a line drive to center field at 110.7 mph off McGreevy in the third inning.
Wood now has six career batted balls at 116 mph or harder. All other Nationals players have six such hits combined in the Statcast era (since 2015), comprised of a well-regarded D.C. fraternity of Juan Soto (two), Bryce Harper (two), Kyle Schwarber and Adam Lind.
"It's impressive,” said manager Blake Butera of Wood’s recent run. “No other words to describe it other than impressive. He just seems to get better and better every day. I'm really happy with how he's coming along as we get going here. I feel like he's in a real good spot.
“He's able to do some pretty impressive things along the lines of Soto and [Aaron] Judge and these other guys [who] hit the ball real hard. He's special."
Those two singles marked the 14th and 15th swings from Wood this season in which he produced an exit velocity of at least 100 mph. He ended the afternoon 2-for-4, good for his third straight multihit game, finishing with six hits in the series vs. the Redbirds.
Even his final at-bat, a groundout that ended the eighth, scorched toward Cards shortstop Masyn Winn at 101.9 mph.
Teammate Daylen Lile, who went 0-for-3 with a walk on Wednesday, appreciates the talent Wood produces nearly every game and he sees first hand in the batting cage.
“It's very impressive what James can do,” Lile said. “Being in the same group with him during BP, it is something special. It is definitely a blessing that he has. James is a great baseball player, great hitter, and I love picking his brain about certain stuff. It is unbelievable just watching him each and every day go about his business and see him do what he does."
Wood had two of the Nationals' four singles in a rare game where the offense was unable to get going, with all four hits coming in the first three innings and just one runner reaching base after the third, too.
While the bats labored through the later innings, it was Nationals right-hander Miles Mikolas who struggled early. Mikolas had a hard time getting out of innings quickly, but allowed only two runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts over three innings -- an improvement from his prior start (11 runs on 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings Friday vs. the Dodgers).
Mikolas threw 55 pitches, 34 for strikes, marking a shorter outing than normal. There's a reason for that, of course: Butera wanted Mikolas in a better state, mentally, after two losses and 15 runs allowed his first two starts.
“His first couple of outings we asked a lot from him, a lot of pitches, a lot of innings,” Butera said. "He did his job, got through the lineup twice, left with a 2-1 game. I wanted to get Brad Lord some extra innings today."
Mikolas was pleased with the efficiency he saw from his fastball and sinker, and he took the start as a net positive despite being pulled after three frames, especially after a bumpy beginning to the year.
"I really liked my stuff,” Mikolas said. “I was feeling a lot better. I worked on some things in between outings. My fastball felt better. My breaking stuff I felt was sharper. I got into some counts where I got through that lineup twice pretty quick, walking some guys that I probably shouldn't. If we need to do some matchups or go inning to inning, then I'm all for whatever helps us win some ballgames."
Lord did his job efficiently for three innings, allowing just a Jordan Walker solo homer.
In the end though, the final three relievers -- Cionel Pérez, Cole Henry and PJ Poulin -- surrendered three runs on two hits, with four walks and a hit-by-pitch. The inconsistencies of the bullpen are another issue that has been a major part of the Nats' 4-8 start. But Lord believes his teammates will find a way to bounce back as the club heads to Milwaukee.
"You just got to trust the process in it,” Lord said. "They're good hitters. They're going to hit good pitches, so you just got to keep making them and just trust that your stuff is better and that eventually you'll start getting outs.
"Early in the year, it's always tough going multiple innings, back to back. I feel like we will bounce back. We will handle it and we will just keep getting better."