The James Wood experience is just getting started, and boy is it unique
I have been watching baseball for most of my 24 years on this planet, and I have never seen a player quite like James Wood. He moves around differently, he is built differently, the whole package is just so unique. James Wood is truly a baseball unicorn.
Drafted in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft, it did not take long for the baseball world to realize that James Wood was a massive draft steal. Just over a year later, he was a massive piece of the blockbuster Juan Soto trade. Wood was the player the Padres were most gutted to lose and the one Mike Rizzo wouldn’t do the deal without.
It is easy to see why. Wood is a freak of nature. He is 6’7 234 pounds with 85th percentile sprint speed and makes some of the loudest contact in baseball. James Wood has the tools of a true superstar. He also has an advanced, patient approach at the plate which allows him to draw plenty of walks.
Wood is also a player of many extremes, which is why I consider him a unicorn. Despite being a left handed hitter, his spray chart looks like a right handed pull hitter with how much he uses the opposite field. Seven of his nine homers went the opposite way.
It is that easy opposite field power that is his most freakish attribute. I watched him poke a ball that looked like it would be a double, but somehow it was a no doubt home run. It was truly a sight to behold and something very special. James Wood does stuff like that on a regular basis. In fact, all four of his homers this spring have gone the other way.
Analytics have shown us that pulled fly balls are a very optimal form of contact. However, James Wood has so much power, these rules don’t really apply to him. He can hit the ball to left field and left center like a right handed pull hitter. Would it be nice to see James turn on the ball a bit more often? Sure, but he can generate so much opposite field power that he doesn’t need to.
The bigger priority for James should be to simply get the ball in the air. Direction does not matter. Last season, Wood posted a 55.6% ground ball rate. To become the special power hitter we know he can be, this needs to come down. This spring, that rate is down to 45.5%, which would be an awesome number for him.
James Wood does so many things wrong, at least according to the current hitting meta. He doesn’t pull the ball, or hit it in the air much. Despite that, he still put up a 120 wRC+ last season at 21 years old. Wood is a baseball unicorn who is just scratching the surface.
He is going to do things this season that will make Nationals fans jaws hit the floor. The funny thing is that there are still so many areas for him to improve. In addition to the warts in his offensive game, he still needs some work with the glove. Wood is a tremendous athlete, but doesn’t look super comfortable in left field. Hopefully that can change with more experience.
This unicorn skillset makes James Wood the crown jewel of the Nationals rebuild. He can simply do things that very few Major League baseball players can do. Among the best players on the planet, James Wood stands out for how freakishly talented he is. Wood is on the precipice of something special and can be one of the best and most unique hitters in baseball.