Saturday, October 25

Welcome to the latest edition of the Nationals Beat newsletter. This is your stop for the latest on and off the field, from news to exclusive player interviews and insights, brought to you by MLB.com club reporter Jessica Camerato.

In his first full season in the Major Leagues, James Wood was named a National League outfield finalist for the 2025 Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award.

Wood, 23, is in the running with Corbin Carroll (Diamondbacks), Pete Crow-Armstrong (Cubs), Juan Soto (Mets), Kyle Stowers (Marlins) and Kyle Tucker (Cubs). The winner will be announced on Nov. 6, at 6 p.m. ET. 

Wood slashed .256/.350/.475 with an .825 OPS, 38 doubles, 31 home runs and 94 RBIs in 157 games. 

Among NL outfielders, he tied for first in doubles, ranked third in extra-base hits (69), tied for third in homers, ranked fourth in RBIs and fifth in walks (85) and hits (153). Wood ranked first among all MLB players in strikeouts (221). 

He was one of only three players (and one of two NL outfielders) to record 30 home runs, 35 doubles and 15 stolen bases this season.

Wood’s performance at the plate goes far beyond the cumulative numbers. The lefty-hitting 6-foot-7 slugger demonstrated head-turning power throughout the season. He ranked in the 98th percentile of all players in exit velocity and hard-hit percentage. 

Wood led the NL with 56 balls batted over 110 mph. He trailed only reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge in the category. 

Wood also paced NL outfielders with 15 homers mashed at more than 110 mph. His 116.3 mph home run on April 23 against the Orioles tied Bryce Harper’s 2017 mark for hardest-hit home run by a Nationals player in the Statcast era (since 2015). 

Wood’s two farthest-hit home runs of the year traveled 451 feet. He crushed 24 dingers in the first half of the season and earned his first All-Star selection and invitation to the Home Run Derby. After struggling to replicate that in August, Wood heated up at the end of the season with four homers in the final five games.

Wood tallied 58 hits versus left-handed pitchers, good for third among all lefty batters and the most in team history (2005-present). He was the first Nats player since Alfonso Soriano in 2006 to record 30 homers and at least 15 stolen bases. 

Wood is in contention to become the 11th Nationals player to win a Silver Slugger and the first since Soto in 2021.

Josh Bell made a special visit to KIPP DC Heights Academy last week to read his children’s book, “What Color is the Sky.” Bell was joined by Nationals team mascot Screech as he shared his literary debut with a class of first graders. 

The veteran slugger wrote the book this season in partnership with Ello. All proceeds benefit the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy. 

“It’s another opportunity to spread the story, to interact with little ones,” said Bell. “Hopefully, if even one of the kids in the classroom can remember this on a bad day – to keep their head up and to look up towards the sky – then it’s a win for me.” 

The Nationals partnered with KIPP DC Heights Academy through the club’s Grand Slam Schools program, which “aims to expose students to baseball through co-curricular programming that emphasizes literacy and STEM education, promotes student attendance and fulfills school resource needs.” 

Team representatives also presented Principal Michael McGee with a customized City Connect jersey at a school assembly that day.

Former Nationals hurler Max Scherzer is returning to the World Series with the Blue Jays in pursuit of his third ring. 

At age 41, his turn-back-time performance in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Mariners featured the fiery intensity fans have come to expect from Scherzer. 

“This is what you play for,” Scherzer said. “You work so hard the whole year. You make all of the sacrifices and put all of the work in to get to this moment, to have these types of moments.”

Scherzer memorably delivered five gutsy innings in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series against the Astros after being scratched from Game 5 because of severe neck pain. In 2023, he was a member of the World Series champion Rangers.  

On the Dodgers’ side of the title battle, former Nationals Anthony Banda and Alex Call are looking to help L.A. go back-to-back. The southpaw reliever Banda was on the 2023 Nats, and the outfielder Call was acquired from Washington at this year’s Trade Deadline in exchange for right-handers Sean Paul Liñan (No. 14 prospect) and Eriq Swan (No. 17).

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