'Just feeding off the energy': Wood's star continues to rise

WASHINGTON -- James Wood checked the boxes for three Major League firsts on Wednesday against the Mets. Run scored, RBI, stolen base -- he did it all in the Nationals’ 7-5 win at Nationals Park.

Moving up to the No. 3 spot in his third career game, Wood, the No. 2 prospect in MLB, delivered the go-ahead run to help the Nats top the Mets for the first time this season (1-5) and snap a three-game losing skid.

Which of his career firsts will stand out to Wood the most in his 2-for-3 performance?

“The win, easily,” he said.

First run scored
After drawing his third career walk in the first inning and grounding out to third base in the fourth frame, Wood hit a ground-ball single to center field in the sixth off righty starter Christian Scott. His second big league hit clocked a 109.6 mph exit velocity, surpassing his 106.7 mph debut single on Monday.

Jesse Winker advanced Wood to third base on a single, and Luis García Jr. stepped to the plate looking to shrink the Nationals’ four-run deficit.

“He’s a big guy, first of all. He looks huge out there,” García said of the 6-foot-7 Wood. “But he’s a very good ball player, and he can run. I know that if you give him an opportunity to score on any hit ball, he’s going to have a possibility of scoring for you.”

García rocked his first of two home runs on the night a Statcast-projected 397 feet to right field off Scott to welcome Wood to home plate for the first time.

“I was just watching the ball,” Wood said. “It was a pretty swing, so I kind of had to admire it a little bit, too.”

First RBI
Tied 5-5 in the seventh inning following Lane Thomas' RBI double, Wood faced southpaw Jake Diekman with two outs and a runner on second. Wood sent a fifth-pitch sweeper on a 1-2 count into center field, driving in Thomas for the go-ahead run.

“[Wood] had a nice two-strike approach, which is great, and he stayed in the middle of the field, which is what we preach all the time with two strikes,” manager Dave Martinez said. “He’s going to show the power, he is, but for him to come up here and do what he’s doing, taking his walks and just getting on base for us and like tonight, drive in a big run for us, is huge.”

Wood tallied his first multi-hit game with the RBI.

“I was kind of just feeding off the energy,” said Wood. “Guys were putting together really good at-bats.”

Facing Diekman already is a familiar matchup for Wood -- he reached first base in his debut on a throwing error off a chopper to Diekman. Winker also offered him advice before approaching the tied-game situation.

“He was kind of just talking to me about the pitcher and what to look for with him,” Wood said. “I kind of didn’t listen the first couple of pitches."

He paused to laugh.

"But then, it was great. He kind of walked me through it a little bit.”

First stolen base
Wood was thrown out sliding head-first past the bag attempting to steal second base on Tuesday. The next night, Wood -- who nabbed 10 bases in 52 Triple-A games this season -- stayed just as determined.

“[It felt] a lot better than last time,” Wood said with a smile, adding, “I’m just trying to get a good lead and a good job and trust my speed. I’m just trying to beat the throw.”

Following his RBI single, Wood took a 12.4-foot primary lead off Diekman and dashed to second base with a sprint speed of 29 feet per second. He tied Jacob Young (twice) and Thomas for sixth-fastest sprint speed by a Nationals player this season going from first to second.

“Feet first,” Martinez laughed. “… We’re going to push the envelope a little bit with all these guys, and we know he can run. So to get him back out there and for him to steal a big base like that was awesome.”