James Wood is slumping again - is it time to worry?

admin_news admin_news
Apr 6, 2026 - 10:00
0 0
James Wood is slumping again - is it time to worry?
MLB Network

It’s not an exaggeration to say that fans’ hopes for this iteration of the Nationals rest to large degree on the high-up shoulder of James Wood. 

With his recent and not-so-recent struggles, is it time to start fretting about those hopes? 

Wood broke out last season in a big way, especially in the first half. Before the All-Star break, he had already clubbed 24 home runs and his batting average sat near. 

He was, to put it plainly, a star, earning All-Star nods and a place in the 2025 Home Run Derby.

Wood slumped through the rest of the campaign, but he still finished the year with an .825 OPS and 31 home runs, a pretty decent season for the potential-laden 22-year-old. 

The cracks, though, were starting to show, as Wood led the league with a relatively astounding 221 strikeouts. He didn’t offset the plate discipline issues with other parts of his game, either, as he posted a negative defensive WAR. 

Despite optimism that 2026 could function as a turn-around year for Wood, the results have been anything but encouraging. Through Sunday 8-6 loss to the Dodgers at home, Wood is hitting .125, with five hits in 40 at-bats, and has already struck out 17 times to just four walks. 

Sunday did provide a brief end to the slump after belting a three-run home run to push the Nationals ahead 6-1, but he also opened the ninth inning with a strikeout.

The underlying numbers for Wood are just as confusing, and in many cases concerning, as the traditional counting stats. The 23-year-old has a below average chase rate, and a catastrophically bad 7th percentile whiff rate. 

The lack of contact is one problem, but Wood isn’t even thumping the ball when he does hit it. Despite being known as a power hitter, he has posted a mere 56th percentile average exit velocity so far in 2026, and is in the 18th percentile when it comes to squaring up pitches. He has high barrel and hard hit percentages, but has only hit the “sweet spot” of the bat at a 25% rate, good for the 20th percentile. 

Some of these numbers are due to regress to the mean in a positive way. In 2025, Wood had a 98th percentile average exit velocity, a 70th percentile sweet spot percentage, and rarely chased pitches. 

Other issues, though, may be signs of genuine weaknesses that need to be ironed out. The whiff rate was 5th percentile last season, worse relative to the league than he has been this year. Clearly, getting the bat to the ball consistently is something the Nationals need to work with Wood on to build consistency and a more repeatable, reliable plate approach. 

It’s still too early to give up on Wood. He is a rarity as a 23-year-old All Star, and he’s less than a calendar year removed from playing some of the best baseball Washington has seen since Juan Soto was traded. Plus, early season results are notoriously unreliable, and a miniscule sample size relative to a 162-game season. But something needs to change soon – the future of the Nationals depends on it.

Read More