James Wood becomes the first Washington National to hit 30 homers since 2019 and does it in style

It was lost in the shuffle after the Paul Toboni hire was reported, but James Wood hit a major milestone yesterday. With a two home run game, Wood reached 30 home runs on the season. His pursuit of 30 bombs may have ground to a halt in the second half, but eventually he got there.

A lot has been written about Wood’s second half struggles and rightly so. It has been a tough run for the 23 year old. The strikeout rate has ballooned to 38.7% for the second half and 31.8% for the season. He is also within striking distance of the all-time single season strikeout record, though a couple strikeout free games have given him some wiggle room.

However, it has still been a successful season for the young outfielder. Sure, he could not keep up the insane pace he set in the first half, but the final results are solid. If you told me before the season that Wood would hit 30 home runs, 92 RBI’s and post an .827 OPS, I would take it. Sure, the path to getting there has been very frustrating at times, but he got there.

As you would expect from Wood, the two homers were both majestic shots. Both homers were mammoth shots to center field. When he is at his best, James Wood can really make a ball park look small.

With a strong finish to the season, Wood is leaving a good final impression after struggling for many months. That will make fans feel much better about the youngster the team plans to build around. There is still plenty of development for James Wood to do, but he has all the tools and has already shown he can produce to a high level.

2026 will be all about consistency for Wood. We have seen the flashes, but can he do it over a full season? I think that Paul Toboni and the player development staff he brings in will help Wood do that. 

After homering the other day, Wood talked about how he had been opening up too soon and not finishing his swing. He has made the adjustment and it seems to be working. My question is why did it take about three months to make that adjustment? What had Wood and the staff been working on previously? Let’s just say, I think the next hitting coach will be quicker in figuring this kind of stuff out.

Stuff like this is why Nats fans are so frustrated with the current coaching staff. Sure, they found the adjustment eventually, but why did it take three months to make a seemingly simple tweak? Thankfully, Darnell Coles will only be hitting coach for three more games.

On a more positive note, Wood joined some illustrious company with his 30 homer season. This says more about the state of the team than anything, but Wood’s 30 homer campaign was the Nats first 30 homer season since 2019. That year, Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto both got over 30 bombs.

James Wood also joined Alfonso Soriano as the only Nats players to have 30 homers and 15 steals in a season. Of course, Soriano went 40/40, but this is still an elite club to be a part of.

So what is next for James Wood? Ideally, he finds a way to get that strikeout rate down below 30% next year. With his long levers, there will always be swing and miss in his game, but there is still room for improvement. I would also like to see Wood be more aggressive in the zone. Too often, he stares at pitches down the middle.

He has some pretty serious holes in his game. That makes what he is able to do even more impressive. Wood is quite flawed as a hitter, but he has so much raw power and natural ability that he can put up big numbers anyway.

I am excited to see what is next for James Wood, especially now that a new regime is coming in and will put a better support system around him. The sky is the limit for the young outfielder, but Wood still has some things to figure out. For now, let’s just celebrate the 30 homer season from our young star.