James Wood, Nats’ top prospect, singles in debut

WASHINGTON — Washington Nationals top prospect James Wood made his major league debut Monday night in a 9-7 loss to the New York Mets.

“It’s unreal,” said Wood, a native of nearby Olney, Maryland, before the game. “Just being able to play for the team I grew up around and watching, it’s a blessing.”

The Nationals selected the contract of the 21-year-old outfielder to call him up from Triple-A Rochester. Wood was acquired in the August 2022 trade that sent Juan Soto to San Diego. He played left field and batted sixth in his first major league contest.

“Unique,” Wood said when asked for one word to describe his debut. “It’s just like the first time doing something, something you’ve never done before, playing in front of a crowd like that and obviously in the major leagues.”

After receiving a standing ovation from the crowd of 26,719 in the bottom of the second, Wood fell behind 1-2, worked the count full and then lined an opposite-field single into left-center against Mets starter David Peterson. It was his only hit of the night in four at-bats.

“I was just kind of looking for a fastball,” Wood said. “His fastball runs, it’s got a run and sink on it. I was trying to push it up and away, especially after I swung through the one down. And then I was just able to get one.”

He is the third-ranked prospect in the Major League Baseball pipeline. The 6-foot-7, 234-pounder was hitting .353 with 10 home runs, 37 RBIs and an OPS of 1.058 in the minors.

“He’s done really well at Triple-A,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “I talked to him a little bit today about his routine, stick with his routine and really just be where your feet are and have fun.”

Wood estimated he’d have “more than 50” friends and family members in attendance for his debut.

“It’s cool just being back home and having my family here and trying to soak it all in,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s still baseball, so just trying to look at it that way.”

The Nationals acquired him in August 2022 in the deal for Soto that also brought shortstop CJ Abrams and left-handed starter MacKenzie Gore to Washington.

Abrams and Gore have been mainstays on a rebuilding club that has remained competitive a year after finishing last in the NL East at 71-91. Washington (39-44) entered Monday four games out of an NL wild-card spot.

In a corresponding roster move, the team designated outfielder Eddie Rosario for assignment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.