April 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nThe former was the expectation. The latter was extra credit.<\/p>\n
Playing right field (a position he did not play last year), Wood leapt to the top of the bullpen wall (reaching an apex that other players can not reach) to steal a home run away from Nolan Gorman in the fourth.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to (get the jubilant reaction) out of him sometimes \u2014 I think that\u2019s what makes him great,\u201d manager Blake Butera said. \u201cHe\u2019s just so even-keeled. But to see him open up like that, even though he said he feels fine, and he, obviously, was going through a bit of a rough stretch \u2014 to see him make that playing right field, to see him hit that big home run, see him with the smiles like it, you always feel great seeing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood heard it from his standing teammates, the dozen or so men on the other side of the wall who offered high-fives and wouldn\u2019t let the smile leave his face. And from starter Zack Littell, who was the lucky man on the mound when Wood robbed that homer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s (6-foot-6) \u2026 he doesn\u2019t move like that, though,\u201d Littell said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t move like the long, lanky body that he is, which is really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were those who did not see it with Wood. Skeptics looked at his base metrics, which said he had a .572 OPS before Monday\u2019s first pitch. His at-bats, though more encouraging than that number, were not infallible. There were pitches down the middle he took, and pitches outside that he did not.<\/p>\n
But this is still a 2025 All-Star, and it\u2019s still the first week of April. This is a lesson in patience, in promise and in proportionate responses when the best hitter on the Nationals starts to heat up a bit. Because Wood has started to heat up \u2014 making better swings earlier in counts, and hitting the ball harder with unfortunate luck on those swings.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still so young, we don\u2019t want him just to get labeled as just a hitter,\u201d Butera said. \u201cThat\u2019s another reminder for James: You have a chance to be one of the best all-around players in baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n
His OPS? Now a more-than-respectable .722.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to say it felt inevitable,\u201d Littell said, \u201cbut it was almost not surprising that he gets in there and does something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
And in the late hours of the night, as he became incandescent? Well, those who were surprised at Nationals Park were not in the real estate of the home dugout.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always know he\u2019s gonna do something big,\u201d House said. \u201cMy mind\u2019s never changed one time. I\u2019ve seen him since before we got drafted. I\u2019ve seen him enough to know that every time he steps up to the plate, it\u2019s dangerous, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
But robbing a homer and hitting one in the same night?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, that was crazy,\u201d House said. \u201cMe and CJ just looked at each other, and we were like, \u2018Wow.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n