Tag Archives: James Wood

September 15, 2024

Best Batter Today

Luis Arraez of the Padres moves into fifth place in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Arraez is on a tear with a 13 game hit streak in which he posted a .456/.508/.491 slash line. He went two for four with a double and a walk in a 4-3, 10 inning win over the Giants.

Aaron Judge of the Yankees remains first as he hit his 53rd home run of the season to go with two walks in a 5-2 win over Boston. Vladimir Guerrero of the Blue Jays walked twice in a 3-2 win over the Cardinals for second place.

Moving up into third place was Brent Rooker of the Athletics as he homered in a 4-3 White Sox win. Yordan Alvarez of the Astros slips to fourth place as he walked twice while making three outs in a 6-4 win over the Angels.

James Wood of the Nationals and Michael Busch each post game scores of 77, the highest on the day. Wood went two for three with a walk and two home runs, while Busch went three for five with two home runs.

September 15, 2024

Good Wood?

James Wood, the seasonal age 21 rookie of the Nationals, hit two home runs on Sunday in a 4-3 win over the Marlins, adding a walk along the way. That gives him seven home runs on the season and a slash line of .273/.364/.429. I will take that any season from a young rookie.

Those numbers should come with a caveat. Wood’s high BA is a result of a .382 BABIP. If the gap between this BA and BABIP surprises you, it’s because he struck out 81 times in 280 plate appearances, 28.9%. That’s a high K rate, the K rate of a slugger. At the moment, Wood is not a slugger.

I suspect the .382 BABIP is unsustainable as pitchers learn more about his tendencies as a hitter. If he cut down on his Ks and still managed .340, he might win a batting title.

The good news on this front is that he doesn’t swing and miss much. He is taking pitches in the strike zone. As a rookie, he might not get the edge calls, but as he learns the zone better, that might change. So he may not need a different swing, he may just need to learn to apply it on edge pitches with two strikes.

July 1, 2024

Wood on the Ball

James Wood of the Nationals just finished his first MLB plate appearance. He did not chase anything bad, worked the count 3-2, and then went with a pitch down, grounding it hard the other way for a single. It was a good PA with a good result.

This is the first time I saw him and was impressed by his height. He’s listed as 6′ 7″, but he looks taller. He was .300/.400/.500 player in the minors, which is pretty good for a seasonal age 21 player.

The Mets and Nationals are scoreless going to the bottom of the third inning.