Nationals Give James Wood New Nickname After Joining Barry Bonds

Nationals Give James Wood New Nickname After Joining Barry Bonds originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

James Wood is in his first full MLB season after debuting for the Washington Nationals on July 1, 2024. The 6-foot-7 outfielder recorded an opposite-field single in his first at-bat and made his debut as MLB’s No. 3 overall prospect.

Selected by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of IMG Academy, Wood signed for a $2.6 million bonus and quickly rose through Single-A and Double-A before reaching Triple-A in 2024.

In August 2022, the Padres traded Wood along with CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore to the Nationals for Juan Soto and Josh Bell.

Since joining Washington, the 22-year-old has emerged as one of baseball’s best young talents, and is under team control until at least the 2030 season, giving the Nationals a franchise star to build around.

Washington Nationals center fielder James Wood (29)© Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports

On Sunday, in a 7–4 extra-innings win over the Los Angeles Angels, Wood became the first player since Barry Bonds to be intentionally walked four times in a single game.

Today, the Nationals posted a video on X giving the young star a new nickname, “the name is bonds … james bonds.”

Wood is batting .283 with 22 home runs, a .386 on-base percentage and a .938 OPS—which ranks 5th in all of MLB—along with 64 RBIs and eleven steals.

Despite Wood’s breakout, the Nationals have fallen in the standings lately after a solid start to the season. They sit at 35–49 and are in last place in the NL East as they enter a series on Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 30, 2025, where it first appeared.

Nationals Give James Wood New Nickname After Joining Barry Bonds

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