The Washington Nationals just promoted James Wood on Monday to make his MLB debut, and this morning he was named as Baseball America‘s №1 prospect in all of baseball. Of course Wood will keep his prospect ranking while playing for the Washington Nationals unless he is dethroned in the next update or until he graduates to rookie status at the earlier of 130 at-bats in the Major Leagues -or- 45 total days on the active MLB roster with the Nats.
Along with Wood, outfielder Dylan Crews is Baseball America’s №4 prospect and third baseman Brady House is at №78 in all of baseball and in the prestigious Top-100 rankings.
In this new ranking, Wood leapfrogged Orioles’ top prospect, Jackson Holliday, who previously held the top ranking at the start of the season. Wood, 21, was the №3 prospect prior to the new rankings in Baseball America, and is currently still the №3 prospect in MLBPipeline.
On top of all of this news, Wood and Crews were selected for the 2024 All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on Saturday, July 13. Wood, more than likely, will be subbed out by another Nats’ player. House was chosen to participate in the new Futures’ Skills competition in which they will have three different challenges for the participating prospects.
- Hit It Here
- Call Your Shot
- Swing for the Fences
Before Wood’s departure to join the MLB roster, he was leading all of the Nats’ Minor League system in the batting categories, and ranked among all Minor League hitters in batting average (2nd, .353), on-base percentage (2nd, .463), OPS (2nd, 1.058) and slugging percentage (9th, .595). He hit .353 with 16 doubles, 10 home runs, 37 RBI, 40 walks, 10 stolen bases and 44 runs scored in 52 games for Triple-A Rochester this year.
Both Wood and House were on the 2023 All-Star Futures team at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. This will be the first pro All-Star honor for Crews, who was the №2 overall draft pick in 2023. Keep in mind, one day after the Futures’ Game, will be the 2024 MLB amateur draft. The Nats are picking at 10th overall in the first round and will also pick in the 2nd round at the 44th pick. If the Nationals choose one of the top draft prospects, it is possible that player, just like Crews last year, will be immediately seeded into the Top-100 prospects.
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