James Wood is giving the Nationals something they haven’t had in a while: a player recognized among the best in the sport.
At the 2026 MLB Awards, Wood was the lone Washington player to land on the first- or second-team All-MLB list. No other National reached that level, though Bobby Witt Jr. made the first team and Elly De La Cruz was named second-team All-MLB at shortstop. CJ Abrams came up short of an All-MLB spot.
Wood’s selection puts him in a small group. He is the fourth National to earn All-MLB honors since 2020, and the first since 2021, when Juan Soto and Max Scherzer made the teams. Scherzer also made the Second-Team All-MLB that year.
The season Wood put together explains why he got the nod. In 135 games, he hit 30 home runs, drew 102 walks, posted a .388 on-base percentage and a .503 slugging percentage. He did it the way elite hitters usually do it: by reaching base and driving the ball with authority.
What makes the honor even more notable is that Wood missed 27 games. He sat out most of August - about four weeks - with an oblique strain, then had some trouble finding his footing after returning.
Even with that interruption, Wood’s profile keeps rising. He leaves this season as a central figure in the Nationals lineup, and the recognition only reinforces that.
Abrams, meanwhile, didn’t collect any major awards, but he did show up in NL MVP voting. He finished 14th overall and received 12 points. One voter placed him fourth on a ballot: Charles Odum, an Atlanta-based Associated Press writer.
Abrams also landed in the top 10 on two ballots. Rick Cerrone of Baseball Digest put him eighth, and Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer had him ninth.
In the voting, Abrams finished ahead of Bryce Harper, Sal Stewart, Jackson Chourio, and even fellow National League player James Wood.
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