The Nationals, in the middle of a long road trip, are set to meet the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida later on Friday.
A powerful left-handed hitter, Wood hit 51 home runs in his minor league career, including 26 a season ago. Wood, who grew up in Maryland, landed in the Nationals’ system in 2022 — one of the prospects the San Diego Padres sent to Washington as part of the trade for superstar Juan Soto. Also part of that deal: MacKenzie Gore, the left-handed pitcher in line to start Monday.
Eddie Rosario, whom the Nationals signed to a minor league deal in March, seems like the likeliest option to be moved before Wood debuts Monday. The Nationals could try to find a team willing to trade for Rosario, the 2021 National League Championship Series MVP who has a .556 OPS this season. But that could prove difficult, even with Rosario’s postseason experience.
The Nationals have four other outfielders on the roster: Lane Thomas, Jacob Young, Jesse Winker and Harold Ramirez, who signed a minor league deal with Washington earlier this month after being designated for assignment by the Rays. Winker was taking practice reps at first base with Joey Meneses ahead of Friday’s game, perhaps signaling how the Nationals want to incorporate both Winker and Wood into the lineup.
Wood, bright and soft-spoken, has long carried with him the weight of tremendous expectations. And his mother, Paula, has said that he has “always been obsessed with baseball in a different way than anything else in his life.” Earlier this year, his Class AAA manager indicated that he might be ready for a bigger stage.
“Obviously that’s not my choice,” Red Wings Manager Matthew LeCroy said at the time. “But he’s done enough right now that I would feel confident, if they asked me [about calling him up], [to say], ‘Hey, man, might as well.’ ”
Wood is in the middle of his fourth season in the minors. He started the 2023 season in high Class A Wilmington and jumped to Class AA Harrisburg after just 42 games. This year, he participated in his first big league spring training and impressed in West Palm Beach, Fla., Washington’s spring training home.
Wood didn’t make Washington’s Opening Day roster — the Nationals wanted to give him more time to develop. But as he cruised through Class AAA, the noise around him continued to grow. Wood suffered a right hamstring injury in mid-May, which sidelined him for a few weeks. He returned on June 18 and has played in just six games.
When the Nationals traded Soto, they hoped to build a young core that would make them competitive again. Two pieces of that core — Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams — are already in Washington and having strong starts to the year. Other players involved in the Soto trade include outfielder Robert Hassell III, who is on the injured list in Class AA Harrisburg, and right-hander Jarlin Susana, who has allowed two runs or less in his last five starts for low Class A Fredericksburg.
Wood is set to arrive in the majors not long after outfielder Dylan Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft, joined the Red Wings. Crews, 22, was promoted to Class AAA Rochester this past week.
He will join a young Nationals team that has at times surprised this season as the franchise’s reboot continues to take shape. Abrams and infielder Luis García Jr. have been two of the team’s better hitters. The speedy Young has impressed in center field, and Washington’s pitching — including Gore and two of his fellow starters, Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker — has shined. Right-hander Josiah Gray, an all-star in 2023, has spent most of the season on the injured list but could rejoin the team in the near future.
And now Wood’s moment looms, as Washington’s years-long rebuild takes another big step.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Christine Lake is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. With an extensive background in sports journalism, he covers everything from major league championships to grassroots sports events. When she’s not on the field or at the stadium, you’ll find Christine coaching youth sports teams.
