SAN DIEGO – James Wood driving in CJ Abrams on a 110.2 mph line drive and then again on a three-run homer at Petco Park is a scene that could have easily been imagined when projecting the pair’s Major League development.
Only on Monday night, Wood and Abrams – two former top prospects in San Diego’s organization – were playing for Washington.
“They got a pretty good player in the trade, we got really good players in the trade,” said manager Dave Martinez. “So it worked out for us.”
The results of the 2022 Juan Soto blockbuster trade between the Nationals and Padres reached another stage when Wood, 22, made his first trip to Petco Park as a big leaguer. He went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and two strikeouts in the Nationals’ 10-6 win vs. the Padres.
"It was great,” said Wood. “This is a really nice park, great fanbase. It was the team I got drafted by, so I definitely did take a little second today and it was cool.”
Wood got the Nationals on the board with a sharp liner to left field that plated Abrams in the fourth inning, and singled a ground ball into right field in his next at-bat. He then moved himself into first place among NL outfielders in home runs (22) when he knocked a three-run homer off the right-field foul pole in the eighth inning.
“He's a good player, man,” said Padres third baseman Manny Machado. “Helluva swing. Definitely got some talent. It was fun watching him play, getting to see him develop.”
Wood was ranked as the Padres’ No. 3 prospect/MLB No. 88 overall at the time he was one of six players involved in the return for Soto and Josh Bell. Abrams, Gore, prospect Robert Hassell III, prospect Jarlin Susana and Luke Voit were also acquired.
Wood, who was drafted in the second round out of IMG Academy a year earlier, was playing at Single-A Lake Elsinore at the time of the deal. Two years later, he slugged his way to the big leagues on July 1, 2024, and joined Abrams and Gore as centerpieces on the Nationals.
The clubs faced off Monday night for the first time since his debut. Wood arrived in San Diego among the top of statistical leaderboards and in contention for his first All-Star selection.
Wood is slashing .284/.379/.569 in 79 games his first full season in the Majors. Heading into the series opener, Wood also ranked first among NL outfielders in win probability added, OPS, wOBA and weighted runs created plus (wRC+); second in bWAR, hard-hit rate, OPS+ and RBIs; and third in slugging percentage, extra-base hits and walks.
"Not surprised,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said before the game. “Look, when the trade was made ... it was like, man, that's so great we're getting Juan Soto, but ooh, James Wood. But I don't think that was a surprise to A.J. [Preller]. That was the cost of doing business. So what he's doing is not a surprise. He's a very gifted player, but also, he's wired right with his head. He sees the game well, a really mature guy."
Abrams contributed three hits, a stolen base (his 100th as a member of the Nationals) and three runs scored in five at-bats. Gore, who leads the NL and is ranked second among all pitchers in strikeouts, is slated to start the series finale on Wednesday.
“We lost a very special player in Juan, as we all know, but we gained three really special players, three guys that this organization is building ourselves around in MacKenzie, Abrams, Wood,” Martinez said. “You saw another kid that we brought up and had here, Hassell. It’s not the last time you’ll see him, either. But the trade worked out for us really well.
“These three guys are the cornerstones of our organization. They've done well, and they're helping us right now at an early, young age.”