WASHINGTON -- James Wood¡¯s opposite-field home run on Monday against the Dodgers had the sports world buzzing on Tuesday morning.
The soft-spoken, 22-year-old slugger continued to make noise that night by putting on a two-homer, five-RBI show in the Nationals¡¯ 8-2 win. It was the second multihomer performance of his young 90-game career.
Wood wasted no time heating up on the 46-degree night to help extend the Nats¡¯ winning streak to four games and take a series against the Dodgers at Nationals Park for the first time since May 5-7, 2014.
¡°He¡¯s totally engaged when it comes to hitting,¡± manager Dave Martinez said. ¡°He has a plan every time he goes up there, every at-bat. He understands the strike zone, he really does. And he¡¯s continuously getting better.¡±
On his first pitch of the game, Wood crushed a 92.1 mph fastball from southpaw Justin Wrobleski 391 feet to center field, per Statcast. It was Wood¡¯s hardest-hit homer of his career at 111.2 mph. His bat speed tracked at 78.8 as he drove in Alex Call for an early 2-0 lead.
¡°Sometimes you¡¯ve got to be patient and earn your pitch, and sometimes it comes early,¡± Wood said. ¡°Today, it was just a little bit earlier than usual.¡±
The Nationals counted on Wood to make an impact as the designated hitter with more than just his power. The Nats had loaded the bases in the second inning with two outs on a single and two walks. Wood patiently worked a full count against Wrobleski and drew a walk on the seventh pitch, sending Dylan Crews home and putting the Nats up, 3-0.
¡°With two outs, that¡¯s not easy to do,¡± Wood said, adding, ¡°Obviously, homers come and go. But I feel like if you can get those runs, I feel like your offense will be rolling.¡±
Two innings later, Wood quickly identified a curveball he liked from Wrobleski. On the first pitch of his third at-bat, Wood walloped another homer 413 feet to center field at 106.6 mph. He drove in Jacob Young to match a career-high five RBIs, last accomplished on July 6, 2024, against the Cardinals.
¡°He was just on stuff early,¡± said Wrobleski. ¡°I think both of them were on the first pitch. He¡¯s a great player, great hitter. Obviously, he did his thing tonight.¡±
Wood already has put himself in the running among the elite in team history. The leaderboard for most multihomer games by a Nationals player before turning 23 years old includes only Juan Soto (11), Bryce Harper (10) and now Wood (2), who doesn¡¯t turn 23 until Sept. 17.
¡°As long as he¡¯s on time, he¡¯ll hit the ball hard,¡± said Martinez. ¡°He¡¯s really starting to get his foot down, he¡¯s getting comfortable in the box, he¡¯s seeing pitches, he¡¯s getting good pitches to hit and he¡¯s hitting them hard.¡±
Wood made his mark at the plate in his first game this season as the designated hitter. He kept himself busy with ¡°a lot of sunflower seeds¡± between at-bats and tried to block out the cold.
¡°I¡¯ve got to find out what to do with myself for half the game,¡± Wood said with a smile. ¡°I don¡¯t want to get too used to it though, but I didn¡¯t mind it today.¡±