The Washington Nationals Twitter/X account posted up what they called “a painting” that looked a photo, so we used Photoshop to get us started on creating a DC Masterpiece, and then added some brushstrokes. In the center of the painting is James Wood sporting the Uncle Slam hat, and he is surrounded by his teammates in a celebration of one of the most impressive home runs in Nats’ history.
For Wood, that was just his 31st career game, and he did it all last night with a home run, triple, two walks, two stolen bases, and four runs scored, to get his team to an 11-5 laugher that began kind of gloomy in a first inning 4-0 deficit.
“We went from real gloomy to boom.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after the game
In all, the Nationals got home runs from Wood, CJ Abrams, and Keibert Ruiz, and a lot of boom. It was Abrams’ home run that put the team on top to turn the game to the Nats favor, and change the attitude to Natitude with multiple dugout celebrations. Wood got things started with a booming triple and scored on a Travis Blankenhorn groundout. After two consecutive walks, Jacob Young singled in a two-strike count to bring in the second run, and CJ Abrams cranked a 3-run homer on a pitch below shoulder height (4.42 feet from the ground) to clear the bases for a 3-run jack and a 5-4 lead at the time.
The Nats added on six more runs in the game without needing to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning in a blowout win. The game certainly didn’t start off as a laugher — but it surely ended that way. Alex Call raised his batting average to .395, and continues to impress in his return to the team showing that second chances are sometimes what everyone needs. That’s how it feels for Wood who was struggling on offense and defense before the All-Star break — but truth be told, he was a newbie with a .654 OPS. Today, the 21-year-old has a .905 OPS in the 17-games since the All-Star break.
Wood went from a -0.4 fWAR to a +0.3 fWAR which took time to dig out of that hole. He looks every bit of the No. 1 prospect that Baseball America named him last month. His 423-foot homer last night landed in the dining area of the Red Porch in Section 100 — the site of some of the most memorable homers in Nats’ history like Ryan Zimmerman‘s walk-off to open the stadium in 2008. But not many lefties can hit one oppo that far. Juan Soto‘s final Nats Park homer in 2022 landed in the Red Porch in the third row. Of course Wood had to better that feat. They were traded for each other. Wood’s homers look effortless.
“[James Wood] is progressing beautifully at the big league level. For a player of his age that can do the things he can do on a baseball field is incredible.”
— Mike Rizzo on @JunksRadio
After a frustrating loss on Monday night, the win last night just cemented that the contributions to this team are from players that comprise the future of this team. Wood, Abrams, Young, and Luis Garcia Jr. are all part of the wood quartet on this team. Add in Ruiz who had one of his best games of his career, and sprinkle in some more of the pixie dust from Hope Row, and some role players like Call and Juan Yepez — and you can start to dream on what could be possible.
Scientists say that winning can increase endorphin levels, and that can reduce pain and increase pleasure. With that pleasure, the mind can wander. You start to think about positivity and next season. On Monday, the agony of defeat can turn you negative. The 180° turn is the irony of sports. One day to the next can bring a whole different set of emotions.
With Wood doing things that no player his age has done in over 100-years is impressive. For some reason, you get the feeling that Hope Row will be up the street from Barracks Row soon enough, and the bumpy road will be paved over on Half Street to lead to beautiful places. If you are a true Nats’ fan, you get those references.
