Since making his major league debut in August of last season, James Wood has been one of my favorite players to watch in Major League Baseball. Wood’s combination of power, plate discipline, and surprising speed makes him not only one of the most exciting players in the league but also a foundational piece of the Washington Nationals‘ rebuild who projects to be a middle-of-the-lineup force for seasons to come.
Wood’s level of production was impressive upon being promoted to the major league roster last season, with his raw power instantly translating into offensive production, however, Wood’s tendency to hit the ball on the ground and inability to pull fly balls resulted in these batted balls resulting in extra-base hits, rather than home runs. I wrote about this phenomenon last September, in my article “Does James Wood Need to Elevate to Celebrate?” here on Pitcher List.
This season, Wood has experienced a full-on offensive breakout, ranking among the league’s best offensive performers, projects to make his first All-Star Game appearance, and has been the first player to be intentionally walked four times in a game since Barry Bonds in 2004. This article will discuss the changes Wood has made to his offensive approach since last season and attempt to assess how close Wood may be to reaching his elite offensive ceiling.
Acquired by Washington as one of the prospects included in the Juan Soto trade, Wood has displayed top-of-the-scale power potential throughout his professional career and is projected to be a dominant force in the Nationals’ lineup for years to come. In his first taste of major league action in 2024, Wood produced a 120 wRC+, 11.6% walk rate, and 28.9% strikeout rate with 9 home runs over 336 plate appearances. So far in the first half of 2025, Wood has been more frequently tapping into his raw power in-game, with a 156 wRC+, 14.5% walk rate, and 26.8% strikeout rate with 22 home runs over his first 373 plate appearances of the season.
As mentioned earlier, the most notable aspect of Wood’s offensive profile throughout his professional career has been his ability to hit for power. Upon graduation from prospect status last season, Wood was graded as possessing 55/80 game power and 70/80 raw power by FanGraphs’ prospect team. While Wood’s exit velocities upon reaching the major league level reflected his top-of-the-scale raw power grades awarded to him as a prospect, Wood displayed a tendency to frequently hit the ball on the ground upon arrival at the major league level in 2024. Hitting the ball hard is an ideal outcome regardless of launch angle, as batted balls hit at higher exit velocities have a higher probability of falling for hits, however, hitting the ball hard in the air will always be the preferable outcome, as these are the batted balls that most frequently result in home runs, and Wood needed to improve in this regard over the offseason to improve his level of offensive production and inch closer to his lofty offensive ceiling.
Last season, Wood displayed an average launch angle of 2.4 degrees, which resulted in a ground ball rate of 55.1%. While hitting the ball hard on the ground allowed him to run a high BABIP of .365 in 2024, this tendency to hit the ball on the ground hampered his ability to effectively tap into his raw power in-game. Pulling the ball in the air is the most valuable batted ball outcome a hitter can produce, as these balls are typically hit harder and travel further than batted balls hit at any other spray direction and while Wood possess the raw power necessary to hit home runs to all fields, his pull air rate of 7.6% in 2024 was also limiting his ability to hit for more power in-game.
This season, Wood has improved his ability to hit the ball in the air across a variety of metrics. Wood has increased his average launch angle to 5.8 degrees and has lowered his ground ball rate to 50.5%, which has resulted in Wood improving his barrel rate from 10.6% in 2024 to 18.8% so far in 2025. Wood has also improved his ability to pull the ball in the air, increasing his pull air rate to 10.1%, which has allowed him to produce more optimal contact when he hits the ball in the air.
Wood’s improved batted ball profile can be visualized by taking a look at his batted ball plot on Baseball Savant. After only hitting two home runs to the pull side in 2024, Wood has hit around seven home runs so far in 2025 that can be considered pulled fly balls. By being able to pull the ball in the air with more frequency, Wood has been able to take advantage of the most favorable batted ball outcome for a hitter, while also being able to rely on his plus raw power to drive balls for damage to the opposite field.
How has Wood been able to hit the ball in the air with more frequency this season? The table above displays Wood’s bat tracking and swing path metrics from the 2024 and 2025 seasons. In each of the past two seasons, Wood has displayed a swing that possesses both above-average bat speed and steeper-than-average tilt, a combination that is ideal for producing barrels, however, Wood displayed a 9 degree attack angle and a -4 degree attack direction, indicating that he was making deep contact geared for opposite field production. It appears that Wood made an effort to move his average contact point closer to the pitcher this season, as his intercept point has increased from 31.5 to 32.7, which has resulted in his attack angle improving from 9 degrees to 10 degrees and his attack direction moving more to the pull-side from -4 to -1 degrees.
This approach change is apparent against pitches located on the inner-third of the plate. Against these pitches, Wood moved his intercept point nearly 2 inches closer to the pitcher, resulting in his attack angle increasing from 5 to 8 degrees, and his attack direction moving 4 degrees more to the pull side. This adjustment has contributed to Wood’s wOBA against these pitches increasing from .423 to .553, and remarkably, Wood has made this adjustment while lowering his whiff rate on these pitches from 20.7% to 15.3%.
While Wood has made significant progress in his ability to hit the ball in the air and pull the ball with more frequency, it should be noted that Wood still possesses an above-average ground ball rate, and his attack direction is still oriented towards the opposite field. In my opinion, these adjustments are sufficient enough to allow for Wood to maximize his offensive production while not increasing his whiff rate, and perhaps Wood has found a “Goldilocks zone” that allows him to hit for power, maintain high BABIP’s, and produce a high on-base percentage due to his disciplined approach at the plate.
As shown by the heat maps above, one particularly impressive facet of Wood’s offensive approach is his ability to consistently make contact on pitches located on the inner-third of the plate. Standing 6’7″, this is an area of the zone that tall hitters such as Wood are not expected to be able to cover effectively, as Wood’s long arms require his body to take longer to adjust his posture to make efficient contact compared to an average-sized hitter. Combining his contact ability with his tendency to hit the ball hard, it should be expected that Wood will be able to maintain high BABIPs, and it would not be surprising if Wood is able to run a ~ .340 BABIP in various seasons throughout his career. I don’t analyze players in terms of batting average too often, however, it is easy to envision a scenario where Wood has multiple seasons in his carrer with a .280 batting average, .400 on-base percentage, and 30+ home runs, if he maintains and/or improves upon his current level of plate discipline and batted ball ability.
In addition to lifting the ball more frequently and maintaining his ability to make contact on pitches located on the inner-third of the plate, Wood has also improved his bat speed this season, with his average bat speed increasing from 73.9 mph in 2024 to 76.1 mph in 2025. Some of this improvment in bat speed can be attributed to Wood’s improved contact point, as Statcast’s bat speed metric is measured at the estimated point of contact, and a longer swing that makes contact closer to the pitcher will have more time to accelerate than a pitch closer to the batter’s center of mass. The remainder of the improvement in his average bat speed can likely be attributed to an increase in his overall strength, as Wood is only 22 years old and still has some room in his frame to add additional strength.
This increase in bat speed has allowed Wood to hit the ball harder this season than he did in 2024. Wood’s EV50 has increased from 104.7 in 2024 to 106.9 in 2025, and he has also improved his top-end exit velocity, with Wood’s 90th-percentile exit velocity increasing from 109.0 in 2024 to 111.8 in 2025. Exit velocity is generated through a combination of bat speed and collision efficiency, and when combined with Wood’s league-average ability to “square up” the baseball, he has been able to produce exit velocities that are among the league’s best in 2025.
While it is impressive to observe the adjustments that James Wood has made to his offensive approach, which has led him to an improved level of offensive production, Wood’s adjustments also serve as a case study for identifying players who can improve their power production in the future with some approach changes. Historically, potential “power improvers” could be identified by analyzing players who displayed an ability to hit the ball hard and on the ground (Ke’Bryan Hayes is an example of a player who fits this archetype).
With the advent of Statcast’s bat tracking and swing path metrics, perhaps utilizing bat speed, swing path tilt, and attack angle or contact point in conjunction with each other could be a more effective method of identifying potential power breakouts. I am curious to see if identifying players with plus bat speed, steep tilt, and flat attack angles are better “power improver” candidates, as they already possess the swing necessary to hit barrels and just need to make contact more frequently when the swing is on a more upward trajectory. Cam Smith is a candidate who comes to mind utilizing this method, as he currently possesses a 74.8 mph average bat speed, 37-degree swing path tilt, and 7-degree attack angle. Time will tell if this method can be effective at identifying future breakouts; however, the success of Wood so far this season provides optimism that this method could be a more effective process.
Overall, James Wood has been one of the best hitters in the National League so far this season, and his increased propensity to hit the ball in the air has allowed Wood to inch closer to realizing his lofty offensive potential. With continued refinement of his approach and the physical tools to match, there’s little standing in the way of Wood becoming one of the league’s most feared hitters. The adjustments he’s made so far this season could be just the beginning of a long and dominant peak as a force in the Washington Nationals‘ lineup.
Statistics through the end of play on July 1, 2025.
