James Wood keeps putting himself in rare company, and the latest swing only sharpened the picture. The Washington Nationals outfielder launched a leadoff homer Tuesday night against the Houston Astros, his eighth of the season, and he did it by jumping on the second pitch from starter Tatsuya Imai. The 83-mph cutter disappeared over the right-field wall at Nationals Park.
It was the second leadoff blast in four games for Wood. He got the first pitch last Saturday, then showed a little more patience this time before striking again.
That eighth leadoff homer puts Wood within striking distance of some notable marks. He is now one shy of Alfonso Soriano’s franchise record of nine, set in 2006, and he is also tracking toward Kyle Schwarber’s MLB single-season record of 15, which Schwarber established with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2024.
Wood’s leadoff power has become part of a bigger surge. He entered Tuesday with 81 runs scored, which led the majors by a wide margin - 19 more than Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, who sat second. Since 1900, only Ted Williams in 1940 and Mike Trout in 2012 had led the league by at least 16 runs scored past July 5 while aged 24 or younger.
The numbers around Wood keep getting louder, too. He is trending toward becoming the fourth player in MLB history aged 23 or younger to finish a season with 40 home runs and 20 stolen bases.
Even in a 6-3 loss to Houston, Wood found the plate twice. Over six July games, he has scored 10 runs, including five in the last two games against the Astros.
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