WASHINGTON – A familiar home-run swing was back in the box on Sunday.
Nationals outfielder James Wood made his first rehab appearance with Double-A Harrisburg since sustaining a left oblique strain on Aug. 3.
Wood played seven innings in left field and went 1-for-3 with a homer to left-center field off southpaw Sebastian Gongora in the sixth.
“I heard he felt good,” said Nats manager Blake Butera, who planned to speak with Wood after the game to discuss if he wants to appear in another rehab game before returning from the IL.
In his first at-bat, Wood grounded out to first base in a 3-0 count. Then, he struck out swinging in a full count to end the third inning. But Wood jumped on a fifth pitch low in the zone in his final at-bat of the day.
The Nationals have been expecting Wood to return this week. After he went through pregame work on Saturday afternoon, he told Butera he would like to see live pitching. The Senators happened to be playing at home the next day.
“He was like, ‘I'd love to do that, just get some at-bats and be able to check that box before I get back in the game,’” Butera recounted on Saturday.
Wood experienced discomfort during a swing against left-hander Kyle Backhus on Aug. 3 at Philadelphia. The at-bat resulted in a groundout to third base. Wood remained in the game, but he was replaced the following inning.
At the time of his injury, Wood led the league in runs scored and ranked third in OBP and OPS, fourth in homers and eighth in slugging percentage.