The Washington Nationals have been surprisingly aggressive this yr.
They’re truly near being a .500 workforce, with a 38-42 report.
The group has had a tough time since successful the 2019 World Sequence, coming into a rebuilding course of and buying and selling away a few of their finest chips.
Now, nevertheless, they’re truly on the point of rivalry.
With the transfer they only made, they made an announcement: they stated they’re keen to advertise their high prospects and begin their clock to compete this yr.
Sure, that’s proper: the Nationals are selling outfielder James Wooden to the majors.
“The Nationals are calling up MLB’s No. 3 prospect James Wooden,” Talkin’ Baseball tweeted.
The Nationals are calling up MLB’s No. 3 prospect James Wooden pic.twitter.com/j1lyd9ZecS
Not solely Wooden is the Nats’ finest prospect: he’s a top-three prospect in MLB.
He has all of it: measurement, athleticism, contact, energy, and most significantly, the flexibility to be taught, enhance, and make changes.
Final yr, he posted a .248/.334/.492 line in 87 video games in Double-A (124 wRC+).
Thanks largely to a sudden lower in his strikeout charge (it went from 33.7 p.c final yr in Double-A to 18.2 p.c in Triple-A in 2024), Wooden has improved to a .346/.458/.578 (168 wRC+) line in 51 video games, with 10 dwelling runs and 10 stolen bases.
He needs to be deployed because the Nationals’ beginning left fielder to any extent further, and has what it takes to dominate on the highest degree.
He’ll present some thump to an in any other case underwhelming unit, and has the upside to enter the top-five within the NL Rookie of the Yr race even whereas enjoying half of the season.
It stays to be seen how he behaves in opposition to top-notch velocity and elite command, however Wooden has all of the uncooked instruments to turn out to be a star.