James Wood
- Washington’s roster as it stands starts at DH · 569 PA · 2.9 WAR in the role
- Injured list 2026: Left oblique strain (Aug 4–Sep 2)
- Trade read Unlikely to be traded: Young, controllable regular (age 24, control through 2030): the kind of player clubs build around.
Hitting · 2026 percentiles
vs. MLB hitters with 300+ PA · 614 PA
Platoon splits · swing path
By pitcher handedness
| vs | PA | wOBA | xwOBA | K% | BB% | Chase | Decisions | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | 215 | .345 | .342 | 33% | 9% | 27% | +0.49 | +1.84 |
| RHP | 399 | .408 | .439 | 27% | 18% | 19% | +1.01 | +4.78 |
- Attack angle
- 11.1° (43% in 5–20°)
- Attack direction
- +0.7°
- Swing length
- 7.4 ft
- Fast-swing rate
- 62%
- Pull-air %
- 11.3%
- Hard-hit %
- 58.9%
- Slash · wRC+
- .265/.388/.503 · 142
Zone map · 2026
Where he does damage, and where to pitch him
Does the most damage middle-middle (+5.2 vs. league per 100; 2.8 standard errors on 159 pitches, inside the noise for the best of nine cells).
Weakest middle-in (−3.4), but only 1.6 standard errors from average on 96 pitches: no in-zone spot to attack yet.
Runs per 100 pitches vs. an average LHB: better · worse. Catcher’s view · 2,371 pitches · faded cells are within one standard error of average. A spot is called only when it is farther from average than the best or worst of nine average cells gets 95% of the time (set from the league’s own pitches: about 3 standard errors above, 2 below).
Most similar hitters
Swings like Wood: bat path, contact quality and approach
| Similarity | Player | xwOBA | ’26 WAR | ’27 proj | 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | Elly De La Cruz CIN · ’02 | .381 | 6.4 | 5.1 | Arb |
| 38 | Jake Bauers MIL · ’95 | .374 | 3.6 | 1.7 | Free agent |
| 34 | Pete Alonso BAL · ’94 | .403 | 5.0 | 2.5 | Signed $33.5M |
| 32 | Aaron Judge NYY · ’92 | .398 | 2.0 | 3.6 | Signed $40.0M |
| 30 | Roman Anthony BOS · ’04 | .341 | 0.7 | 2.1 | Signed $4.6M |
Nearest neighbours on bat speed, swing length, attack angle, squared-up and blast rates, EV90, barrels, pull-air, chase, zone contact, K% and BB%. 2026 regulars only.
Fielding
2027 rating at every position he can play · OAA by position · range by direction · tools. Same engine as the Fielding Lab and the Winter Plan.
| Season | Pos | OAA | Range | Arm, DP | Runs | Batters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | LF | −3 | −2 | −0.2 | −2.2 | 662 |
| 2026 | RF | −4 | −3 | −0.9 | −3.9 | 3,333 |
| 2025 | LF | −7 | −6 | 0.0 | −6.0 | 4,700 |
| 2024 | LF | −5 | −5 | 0.0 | −5.0 | 3,020 |
Runs = range plus his arm and double-play runs spread over his positions by outs (Fielding Run Value, from 2023): what the rating counts.
At RF in 2026, the biggest loss came toward 3B line (−7 outs): a coaching target.
Tools (percentile; arm among LFs)| Play | Made | Chances | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| ★★★★★ | 4 | 22 | 18% |
| ★★★★ | 1 | 4 | 25% |
| ★★★ | 4 | 11 | 36% |
| ★★ | 12 | 14 | 86% |
| ★ | 26 | 30 | 87% |
| Season | Zone | Balls | Outs vs. exp. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | RF | 330 | +0.3 |
| 2026 | LF | 69 | −1.4 |
| 2025 | LF | 466 | −0.7 |
| 2024 | LF | 304 | −3.2 |
The zone rating counts every ball hit to his part of the field while he played there, his club’s positioning included; Savant OAA uses his actual starting spot and is the better individual grade. They agree best in the outfield. See the model card.
Contract & projection
Club control (RosterResource) · Keystone projected WAR
* projected arbitration or minimum salary. Contract Studio →
Minor leagues
MLB Stats API · public box-score data
| SeasonLevel | Level | Team | Age | G | PA / IP | PA / IP ·Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026AA | AA | Harrisburg Senators | 23 | 2 | 7 PA | 7 PA · .333/.429/.833 · 1 HR · 28.6% K · 14.3% BB |
ABS challenges · 2026
Baseball Savant