Notes and quotes from James Wood’s MLB debut…
Davey Martinez said before James Wood made his MLB debut tonight in the nation’s capital, going 1 for 4 with a single in his first at-bat and a walk in his final plate appearance, he knew Wood would be up in D.C. this season once he saw the 21-year-old, 2021 2nd Round pick (by the San Diego Padres — acquired by Washington in the Juan Soto/Josh Bell trade in 2022) in Spring Training this year.
“I thought he’d be up here this year, I didn’t know when, but he was progressing really well,” the Nationals’ seventh-year skipper explained. “He really was. I saw him in Spring Training, he faced some big league pitchers, even though it was Spring Training, he handled himself well, the biggest thing for me offensively is to accept his walks. He’s got to accept his walks, and if he does that he’s going to do fine.”
Wood walked 40 times in 231 plate appearances at Triple-A Rochester before he got called up on Monday, versus 42 Ks in 52 games with the club’s top minor league affiliate, and he’s put up a .353/.463/.595 line, with 16 doubles and 10 home runs.
1ST MLB AT BAT. WOOD BRINGS THE LUMBER. pic.twitter.com/YzqPmmDGYM
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 1, 2024
“We felt like he could give us a little boost in our offense,” Martinez said when asked why the decision was made to call Wood up now.
“We were struggling scoring some runs, and I think his bat will definitely help us. But we felt like he was ready. He checked all the boxes down there. We’re going to have some growing pains just like we do with all of them, but we felt like he was ready.”
The No. 1 prospect in the organization and No. 3 prospect in baseball according to Baseball America, Wood came up leading, “Washington’s Minor League system and [ranked] among all Minor League hitters in batting average (2nd, .353), on-base percentage (2nd, .463), OPS (2nd, 1.058) and slugging percentage (9th, .595),” as the Nationals highlighted in their notes for Wood’s debut.
Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
Martinez said he thought the young outfielder would be able to handle the pressure of his debut well, while acknowledging he knew there would be nerves.
“He should be a little nervous,” Martinez told reporters.
“I played for 17 years and I was nervous every day, but that’s part of the game. We talk about [rookie starter] Mitchell Parker having no heartbeat. He’s kind of that way too. [Wood] slows everything down, he understands he needs to be where his feet are. I love him. I guess you guys talked to him today. He’s very quiet. I’m sure he was very quiet, but that’s how he is.”
Par exemple?
How are you able to treat your debut like “any other day” as so many people advise?
“At the end of the day it’s still baseball,” Wood said in his pregame scrum with reporters in Nationals Park, “… so just trying to look at it that way.”
What’s the biggest difference between minors and majors?
“I’m not really sure. Obviously it’s a jump, and there’s no way to find out than play in it, so…”
What sort of emotions do you expect when you step on the field for the first time?
“It’s going to be pretty cool, I’ll probably see some familiar faces in the stands,” the Olney, Maryland native said of having his family in friends in the ballpark.
Wood’s fanclub got to see him work the count full and hit a sinker from left-hander David Peterson through the left side for an opposite field single (which came off the bat with a 106.7 MPH exit velocity), the first time up in the second.
Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
Wood struck out in a three-pitch at-bat in his second plate appearance, grounded out on a first-pitch sinker from Peterson the the third time up against the starter, then reached on a misplay by Mets’ reliever Jake Diekman to lead off the ninth, taking second on the throw by first before he was eventually stranded at third, sending the 3-3 game into extra innings.
Trailing 9-3 after 9 1⁄2 innings, the Nationals rallied for four runs in the bottom of the 10th, and Wood showed discipline taking a walk from left-handed reliever Tyler Jay in his high-leverage at-bat, to bring the potential tying run to the plate with two out, though the club fell short in the comeback attempt in the end, 9-7 final.
“He was pretty good,” Martinez said of Wood’s debut. “The kid did well, he really did. That’s what we talked about. He took his walks, got a base hit his first at-bat, hit the ball the other way, and he hustled. You watch him, you don’t think he can run, but he runs pretty fast. I really liked his at-bats today, I really did. It’s unfortunate — we tied the game, we couldn’t finish it there, but that’s the way the game goes, I mean, we didn’t give up, we played hard, and we’ve got to come back tomorrow and go 1-0.”
MacKenzie Gore went 5 2⁄3 innings on 104 pitches, holding the Mets to a run, a walk, and five hits while striking out eight, with 21 swinging strikes on the night, 13 of them on his four-seamer, and 12 called strikes, nine on his fastball. Gore finished the night with a 3.47 ERA on the year.
CJ Abrams went 1 for 3 with two walks and two runs scored in the loss, finishing the night with a .284 AVG on the year, and an .860 OPS.
Wood, Gore, and Abrams are 3 of the 5 highly-regarded prospects acquired in the Soto (and Bell) trade, along with outfielder Robert Hassell III (22, and currently at Double-A) and pitcher Jarlin Susana (pitching at Class-A Fredericksburg this season as a 20-year-old).
“It was exciting, it really was,” Martinez said of seeing Wood, Gore, and Abrams on the field together in the majors.
“Like I said earlier, to see those guys up here now, and to know what’s coming, I’m excited about it. I really am. I know the fans are. These kids are going to play hard and going to be good.”