James Wood
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| Photo Credit: Twitter/ @jwood_29 |
Bio:
Age: 20
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 240 lbs.
Bats/Throws: Left/Right
Hometown: Rockville, Maryland
Draft Profile: 2nd round, 62nd pick of the 2021 draft by San Diego
Drafted Out of: IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida)
Career Stat Line: .325 AVG .423 OBP 16 HR 95 RBI 33 SB 0.957 Fielding %
This week's Minor League Spotlight falls on a local kid James Wood. Hailing from Rockville, Maryland, James was born into a basketball family. His father, Kenny Wood, hooped at the University of Richmond and is a member of their Athletic Hall of Fame. Kenny scored 1,427 points in his career, helping lead the #15 seed Spiders to a monumental upset of #2 Syracuse in the 1990 NCAA tournament before playing professionally overseas in Europe (Richmond.com).
His sister Sydney followed in her fathers' foot steps, averaging 10.1 points per game during this most recent season as the captain for the Northwestern Wildcats. But as much as the 6'7" James enjoyed, and excelled, at basketball, it became pretty apparent early on that he was destined for greatness in a different sport: America's Pastime.
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| Photo by Gene Swindoll |
Confirmation of this came during the summer following his sophomore season at DC's St. John's College High School. After a trip down to Georgia for the Futures' Game, Wood attended a half day camp for Mississippi State. Despite multiple other offers on the table from impressive colleges like UNC and East Carolina, the 10th grader was focused on becoming a Bulldog. MSU Coach Chris Lemonis liked what he saw, ultimately offering the prospect a scholarship to play for him in Starkville. It was the moment James had been waiting for, quickly committing to the SEC school (247Sports).
In the winter of that same year, the then-high school junior cut his basketball season short to transfer from St. John's down to the esteemed IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida to focus on baseball. What a better spot to move than one of the premier prep powerhouses in the country? Wood didn't just fit in though once he got there; the hype had more than proceeded the prospect. "When we go travel and play in these tournaments, he'll go walk by and these little kids, ya know, will go like 'oh hey, there's James Wood," Coach Kason Gabbard was quoted saying. "It's pretty surreal as a coach because these are just high school kids." (IMGAcademy.com)
James delivered during his COVID-shortened inaugural campaign with the Ascenders, going 8-28 (.348) with a dinger and five RBI in just nine games. Five of his eight hits were for extra bases. On top of that, he went 2-2 on stolen bases while playing an errorless outfield (MaxPreps). It wasn't the sample size anybody had hoped to see, but that was out of everyone's control. The on-field product was shaping up just right.
Despite rising expectations and the spotlight intensifying, the kid put his head down and kept grinding. And he was in the perfect environment to foster the growth he was seeking. "Between the weight room, having six full size fields and definitely the best high school coaches in the country, and I think if you really just apply yourself, and really grind and put in your hardest at practice and workouts and games and all that stuff, that's only a place you can go up," Wood said of IMG.
And up he went, ascending professional organization's draft boards over his senior season as his potential began slowly shifting into reality. His batting average dropped a fair bit, but a .478 on base percentage was good for second best among starters. He also walked as often as he struck out while leading the team in RBI (MaxPreps). A massive frame and commitment to excellence only increased his appeal to pro teams. Just a matter of finding out which was going to take a swing at the outfielder, and if they could pry him away from Mississippi State.
The San Diego Padres were the team willing to take that leap with the prep baller, drafting Wood with the 62nd overall pick in the 2021 MLB draft. In order to entice him away from collegiate ball, San Diego offered him a $2.6 million dollar signing bonus, approximately double the slot value (MiLB.com). The generous offer was deemed sufficient, a name signed on the bottom line and it was off to rookie ball for the recent high school graduate.
James spent the remainder of the 2021 season in the Arizona Complex League, where he batted in 22 and knocked three out of the park while slashing an impressive .372. It was clear that he wasn't just ready to play with the big boys, he was ready to excel. After a five game stint down in the ACL to kick off the 2022 season, the Padres' brass felt the same and promoted him to low-A Lake Elsinore.
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| Photo by Jerry Espinoza |
Wood was wildly productive at the Lake, posting a .453 OBP, ten homers and 45 RBI in just fifty games, propelling himself up the Minor League Top 100 Rankings. August rolled around, and instead of a move up to high-A, he received a different kind of call. San Diego was making a power move in pursuit of a World Series title, sending their prized outfield prospect back home to the Washington Nationals as part of a massive trade for Juan Soto. Big leaguers MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams and Luke Voit accompanied him in the blockbuster deal, as well as fellow minor leaguers Robert Hassell III and Jarlin Susana (ESPN). An Earth shaking move that has yet to culminate into a championship for the Padres.
The now-Washington-National wrapped up his 2022 campaign as a member of the Fredericksburg FredNats, just over an hour from where he grew up. His stats during the final 21 games weren't as sharp as the previous 50, but a cross country move to a whole new team and league clearly comes with a ton of adjustments. And even still, this brief "regression" produced a solid .293/2/17 stat line. He also was reunited with high school teammate Elijah Green, who was drafted #5 overall by DC just a few weeks prior to the Soto trade.
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| Photo by IMG Academy |
The Nationals assigned their top prospect to high-A Wilmington for the start of the 2023 season. Through twelve games, Wood is raking .310 with one long ball and 11 RBI. His 13:4 K:BB ratio is a bit concerning, but historically he's been closer to 2:1, so we anticipate that ratio improving sooner than later. Regardless of the occasional whiffs, he's been incredibly productive member of the Blue Rocks.
If you're out on the East Coast with some time to kill this summer, make sure to check out the #15 prospect in the minors. We wouldn't be surprised at all to see him up to AA Harrisburg by the end of the season, and scratching at the doors of the majors before long. The Nats are currently that bad, but this kid is a special talent. Remember the name.
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@Choppinglines
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