Wood eviscerated his home run 116.1 mph and an estimated 431 feet. It left the park in about half a second and was truthfully a danger to those in the right field seats. That was already his eighth home run of the season, just one off the league lead. That’s one shy of the total from his rookie year in 55 fewer games. Can you imagine the types of numbers he’ll be able to put up if and when he’s finally able to pull the ball consistently? People in the DC metro area will need to take cover during Nationals games. If fantasy leagues re-drafted today, he’d very likely be a first round pick.

Wood knocked a base hit to lead off the third inning, then delivered a three-run blast off Chase Dollander in the fourth. He later drove in a fourth run with a base hit in the seventh. The 22-year-old outfielder is up to seven homers while slashing .253/.356/.573 with 17 RBI and three steals across 87 plate appearances.

The ball simply sounds different off James Wood’s bat. He torched his first inning double 112.3 mph deep to left-center field and hammered his ninth inning homer 110.5 mph to practically the same spot in left-center, just with a bit more loft under it. That long ball provided a valuable insurance as the Nationals made a huge comeback off the Marlins’ bullpen. It’s remarkable Wood can generate the type of power he does without basically ever pulling the ball in the air, but it just goes to show how good he can – or possibly will – be once if he can ever do that with consistency. After a bit of a slow start, he’s now up to a 1.010 OPS after starting play Monday with a .641 OPS and looks every bit the burgeoning star that was promised.