James Wood: Up-And-Coming Dynasty Player

The goal in dynasty baseball leagues is not to just collect the best talent, but the best YOUNG talent.

Sometimes that goal is easy to achieve as a player comes from seemingly out of nowhere. If you are keen enough to spot these players before others notice them, it is a cheap add, and years of production will follow.

Other time,s adding that talent is not so easy. That is the case with outfielder James Wood of the Nationals. The 22-year-old is not sitting on the waiver wire waiting for you to add him. But that is why we make trades. The price won’t be low to acquire a player like Wood, but if you can swing a deal, you should.

Let’s examine why.

Career Statistics

The Early Years

Like many former top prospects, James Wood attended IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, but struggled a bit during his final season there and fell in the 2021 draft to the San Diego Padres in the second round. The Padres knew what they had in Wood as they signed him for $2.6 million, basically twice as high as the slot value for where he was drafted.

Wood immediately showcased his talent in the Rookie league by slashing .372/.465/.535 with three homers, 22 RBI, and 10 stolen bases in 26 games. His 2022 season was just as good. In 76 games, he slashed .313/.420/.536 with 12 homers, 62 RBI, and 20 steals.

Ahead of the 2023 season, Wood was ranked as the 11th best prospect by Baseball America, 17th by MLB, and 3rd by Baseball Prospectus. Wood was also now a member of the Washington organization, as he was a key figure in the trade that sent Juan Soto from the Nationals to the Padres in the August 2022 trade.

In 2023, Wood finished his minor league season with a .262/.353/.520 slash line with 26 round trippers, 91 RBI, and 18 steals in 129 games between High-A and Double-A. He then started the 2024 season at Triple-A Rochester, but Wood ended the season in Washington after embarrassing AAA pitchers to the tune of a .353/.463/.595 slash line with 10 homers, 37 RBI, and 10 steals in 52 games.

The Tools

• Hit

James Wood made his debut with the Nationals last season and appeared in 79 games, slashing .264/.354/.427 as a 21-year-old. Wood has the ability to spray the ball and has great power to the opposite field, allowing him to let the ball travel and not try to pull everything. Last season, he went to the opposite field 21% of the time and is doing so at the same clip this season, while only having a pull percentage of 19.6%, down from 28.8% last year.

In addition to being able to hit to all fields, Wood has a good understanding of the strike zone. Last season, he had an 11.6% walk rate, and this year it has increased to 14% (the MLB average walk rate is 8.3%). As you can see in the graphic above, he ranks in the 68th percentile in Chase% and 86th percentile in walk percentage.

The one area of concern is his strikeout rate. While he doesn’t chase the ball out of the zone very often, he does have a 27.8% Whiff%, ranking in the 30th percentile. The whiff percentage is leading to a strikeout rate that ranks in the 24th percentile. The good news is he has lowered the strikeout rate a little, going from 28.9% last year to 26.2%.

• Power

I am not sure what the ceiling is for James Wood when it comes to the power department. He does not have Aaron Judge power, but he gets everything out of his 6-foot-7 frame to easily drive the ball. Just look at all of the nice red bars above. He ranks in the 90th percentile or better in xSLG, Average EV, Barrel%, Hard Hit%, and Bat Speed. The combination of his bat speed with his size generates easy, raw power.

However, for Wood to really take advantage of that power, he is going to have to start lifting the ball more. So far this season, he has a 55.7% ground ball rate. No matter how hard you hit the ball, it isn’t going over the fence if you keep pounding it into the ground.

• Speed

James Wood isn’t just a good hitter with power, or a power hitter who can also hit for average. Nope, he also has decent speed. He stole 14 bases last year and currently has five this year, entering Wednesday’s games. He does not have blazing speed, so he needs to work on his jumps as he has been thrown out stealing 10 times in his career. If he is only going to have a 53% success rate stealing, the Nationals will likely put the brakes on his running game.

So while he has the ability to steal bases, I wouldn’t count on him to put up prolific numbers in that department.

The verdict for James Wood is easy – try to get him if you don’t have him. The worst he is going to be is a 30-homer, 90-RBI player with some steals and a .270/.360/.460 slash line. That is the floor. I think he will bust through that floor as he progresses in his career, but I am not going to pretend what his ceiling is.

If you own him, be very happy. Should you try to trade for him, the cost will not be cheap. But if you are rebuilding, then the cost is likely worth it, as Wood is a player to build around. If an owner is in win-now mode, flipping some solid veterans and a prospect or two for Wood would be a steal.

I missed the boat on Wood two years ago. In a league in which we can only have one player from each franchise, I dropped Wood to add Dylan Crews. I still think Crews will figure things out, but I regret making that move every day I do my starting lineup. So if you have him, keep him. If you don’t, do what you can to add him.

Thanks for reading, and come back again next week.