James Wood Is Poised For A BREAKOUT Campaign For The Washington Nationals

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I don't know about you, but I am absolutely fully prepared

for a breakout season from your 2025 MVP, James Wood.

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Claire 11 as we are part of the locked on podcast.

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And later on in today's show, we've got a world baseball classic update.

As last night was the last night for Tarik Scooble.

And he is now heading back to Detroit Tigers.

A lot of people are upset about the decision, but honestly,

while I'm rooting for team USA to take the world baseball classic,

I understand it.

We'll talk about that later on in the show today.

And also just by the way, you'll never guess who's probably in the middle of this.

Stay tuned for that later on in the show today.

And the second segment, I'm unsure about the nationals plans at first base.

Let's talk through that because I think there are a lot of different options

that could be happening there for this team.

But I think there's ultimately one guy for opening day that at this point,

it's got to be his job to lose.

Stay tuned for who that is in the second segment of the show today.

But I'm fully prepared for James Wood breaking out in 2026.

He's coming up a monster campaign for the nationals.

But ultimately, this is going to be the season where he breaks out

onto the national stage.

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This is going to be the year where it's not just nationals fans talking about James Wood.

This is going to be the season of which you turn on MLB network.

And there should be a highlight or two of James Wood each and every single night.

I think the knock for wood going to last season was, yeah, we know this guy has elite

Rob power, but what can he do defensively?

And I think as your God on last year in left field, he looked comfortable like he looked

like he understood the position.

And I think it's kind of strange because remember what he was just that young bright prospect.

Like, of course, you talked about the power.

Of course, you talked about the opposite field power there and the ability to hit and

the ability to get on base and just how freak of an athlete this guy was.

But also he was a good defender.

And when he first came up in 2024, we're all kind of sitting there wondering like, is he

really that good of a defender?

Last season played out and at first it was kind of the same notion where we're talking

about him being a pretty good left fielder.

But by the end of the season, I feel as if that his defense improved dramatically from

what we saw even back in from 2024, looking at what he provided in left field.

He obviously is an above average left fielder.

Like I could sick him in left field and say, you know what?

I think that's where it really fits a most to be in left.

But then we talk about him in right field.

I think this is going to be the year where he takes over in right field and it's honestly

the best decision for his career.

That is where the value lies for hitters number one.

But number two, that's where James would belongs at this point.

I think if would were to be in right field, not only would it help his confidence defensively,

but I also think it brings him up a notch offensively speaking.

We can always talk about what makes a hitter special.

And really in this case for James would, what makes him special is kind of similar to

Juan Soto.

Now don't get it twisted here, I think Juan Soto is the better hitter.

But what makes them both special is that they don't just have power going into one direction.

James would prove last year and even in 2024 that he's got the potential and the ability

to have power going the opposite way.

That is something that you saw and if you look at his spray chart from back in 2025 and

even so far during the spring training, that still stands correct today.

I think early on, an early indication of what makes a hitter in a lead kind of power

tool and what kind of what separates them from the pack.

You look at their spray chart and you look at where they are hitting the ball.

This past year, he hit the ball about every single spot that you could possibly think

of.

He was hitting it into a left center field at a pretty elite rate.

He was hitting it down the left field line at a pretty solid rate.

Most of his home runs went into that left center field territory there, especially at

Nationals Park.

That is an elite hitter and that is an elite trait that James would has and it does not

come around just so often to say, you know what, that's someone who can actually have

that ability.

No, at the age of 22 years old, he has that ability to hit that opposite field power

stroke that I think that Nationals fans have kind of been wishing for since we traded

away Juan Soto.

I feel confident in his ability, not just to be even better, but also being all star,

be back in the home run derby and maybe have the potential hit 40 plus home runs.

I think entering last season, the expectations were a little out of whack and honestly the

first half of the year for James would, he was on that all star pace and he was ultimately

an all star and he should have been an all star, he deserved to be in that spot.

But also, I think that like you did not expect and we as a whole did not expect him to

have that good of a season.

There was a point of which we were talking about him hitting 40 plus home runs.

I think that could happen this season and that might be the ceiling of wood, like we

could talk about 40 to 45 home runs in a second full season in baseball and I don't think

it's that crazy.

But then, similar to other nationals, last season, the second half completely fell off,

struck out nearly 50% of his at-pats and he went on that horrible stretch post the all star

break and I think there's a couple of different things that could be at play.

My number one thing is for whatever reason, it's always been noted here.

Post home run derby and if you are a participant in the derby, you always have that slum.

For whatever reason, people say that their mechanics get out of whack because you know

what, they're competing for the derby, they want to win this.

Not only do you get the million dollars cash prize for winning that home run derby, but

it's also just something that those kids want to achieve.

If you think back to when you're in the backyard with your dad, what are you doing?

You're playing home run derby, you're going out there trying to swing for the fences.

There's a little bit of that nature there when it comes to these guys and the kid in them

comes out and they want to compete in it and that can throw their mechanics off.

But there's also another thing at play for the nationals to kind of excuse what went

wrong in the second half for wood and that's the firing of Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez.

That was a broken team and you've seen it and also there's a number of thirdaries in

which might be the other thing.

This was an organization that was unfortunately planning their vacations or October by the

month of June in July.

That was the reality of the nationals.

After losing 11 games in the summer, you're going into this thing thinking, okay, well

at least James Wood is that kind of guy and of course the one guy to break that 11 game

losing skid against the Rockies was James Wood hitting that walk off home run into love

center field.

Just an incredible moment for someone who in my opinion is the most talented nationals

in her that we've got since Wonsoto.

This will be the year for James Wood and I don't think it's just going to be a first half

flair where we're talking about the first 80 90 games of the season of him having that

all-star caliber season.

I think we're talking about a full 162 game slate and one of the most impressive things

for Wood so far, he's never been known to be like that, I don't know, at least a public

perception of him has never been to be that leader in the clubhouse or never been that

guy to speak up.

But if you kind of notice the way that he's approached the media this year and the way

that he's gone about business and I've kind of noticed him talking to other people in

the dugout so far in spring training.

It does appear that he is taking on that leadership role and he does feel more comfortable

in that role.

I think that this group having this young team obviously there's a lot of flaws but also

there's a lot of pros.

This is kind of when you can kind of find that natural leader and maybe that is James

Wood.

I think this is going to be the year where you see him take that leadership role but

not only that, you see him take that next step up that quite frankly I think we all see

him doing in 2026.

This will be the year of James Wood and I feel confident in that.

Let me know what you think.

You can tweet at me at Ryan Clare 11.

You can check out Lockdown Nationals over on YouTube.

Look up Lockdown Nationals again wherever you get your podcast.

Next I want to get into the uncertainties surrounding first base.

I thought it was Abby Ortiz and then I thought it was Andres Chaparo but is it either of them?

We'll talk about that after this.

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I'm uncertain about the nationals over at first base and I think quite frankly the nationals

are pretty uncertain as well.

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Space is a anomaly at this point for the nationals like if you tell me that Abby Ortiz the

opening day first basement I say sure if you tell me on just tomorrow will be the opening

day first baseman I say that checks out if you tell me that they're going to go out

and sign a sneaky free agent first baseman or maybe make a trade or wait for someone to

get cut off roster and they sign them to a minor league deal and they will eventually be

your opening day first baseman I would say sure and then if you told me Luis Garcia Jr. was

actually in the cards to be the opening day first baseman I would say you know what you might

not be that crazy here's the thing they are unsure about what's going on at first base last

week on a Columbia was on with Grant and Danny down in spring training in West Palm Beach and he

did kind of get into the notion of why they have not spent in free agency and you know what it's

because they want to showcase these younger guys now they didn't really mention too much about

the first base position but that's kind of the position where you look at and you're like okay

but there really doesn't seem to be a future there it could be Abby Ortiz and it could be

Andres Chaparo I think each of them have different qualities that you say that they could be your

future at least for 2026 over at first base but are they a long term one probably not I feel as

if right now that the nationals are just kind of waiting to see what happens but here is my bed

I don't think this first base room looks the same way as it will maybe this mid summer

maybe you have someone break out like a yo yo Morales maybe but honestly they haven't

really done too much to put them over and really if you look at his numbers this past season

didn't look too great maybe the nationals decide to experiment middle of the season and I don't

know put Dylan Lyle at first base that's a crazy thing to think at this point I'm not actually

saying that but who knows crazier things have happened but also then there's kind of the obvious

one with Luis Garcia Jr. maybe they really do see him as a first baseman and it's not that crazy

because here is kind of a blueprint for what could happen with Garcia ending up at first base

we know that he's not a great defensive second baseman in fact he's a below average one

and at times especially when it's paired with CJ Abrams who's very inconsistent defensively

it kind of creates a lot of issues up the middle you know they haven't been the best tandem

over the years up the middle and you've seen a lot of weird miscommunications and botched balls

and bad throws and poor mechanics from the two of them but I think Garcia when it comes to that

like CJ gets the benefit of the doubt of the doubt because we have seen him make good plays there

so Garcia is the obvious one to say you know what maybe he is a first baseman because you can make

the argument that his bat is consistent enough to be in this opening day lineup and I think that

Garcia will be your opening day second baseman but also if you really want to go this defensive route

if you are dying on this hill of saying you know what we got to go defense first

what's the more important position second base or first base I mean I think Luis Garcia Jr.

while it wouldn't be the best plan to have him out there as your opening day first baseman

it also wouldn't be your worst because you would get better defensively up the middle within the

scene new news over at second base I think that is exactly what the nationals could be thinking

it is kind of an addition by subtraction in a sense where newnyas is so good defensively like

again if newnyas is in the lineup he should be starting shorts up but that's another conversation

for another day and I think we can probably get into that at a later date later on this week

but maybe Garcia is as good defensively as abu Ortiz or Audra Chapara who are not special defensively

and if Garcia can simply find a way to scoop and have pickoff plays ready and understand the situation

of where he should be crashing in in the infield where he should be back and what rudders he should

hold on and which pitchers prefer him standing in a different direction like whatever it is it does

feel as if that Garcia could pick that up pretty quickly and the nationals have seemed pretty

open and giving him opportunities over at first base but it is hard to believe that that is going

to be their option come opening day if I were to bet right now and again this could change in

three days from from today like we have no idea what's going to happen but if I had to bet

it's going to be Audra's Chapara as your opening day first base I haven't seen enough from

abu Ortiz he hasn't separated himself at all at this point and I think it's kind of premature to say

that he's ready to make that jump into the bigs I do think that will come at some point this season

and if you look at it like Chapara's probably your opening day dh maybe just maybe the nationals

try to roll with him in that department and maybe you try to think outside the box and have Garcia

rep first base move Nunez the second base or maybe you have Audra's Chapara as your dh and you

have Robert Hassler third up as a fourth out I don't know at this point I can just tell you this

I think the way that we think about first base is the exact same way the nationals feel at this

point we don't know who that opening day first base will be it is the most intriguing camp

battle by far when it comes to the nationals and I think that today it's one of those things where

you simply cannot make it up and you cannot tell me confidently that you have the answer of rep first

base it's a great mystery at this point and I think while it is concerning you do think about this

this is not a team that's expected to win this say team that obviously has its flaws and I think

things will absolutely change moving forward but it's just one of those things where it's like

okay you're gonna have to figure this out eventually and is it going to be Abbi Ortiz will be

Audra's Chapara or could it be Luis Garcia Jr you make the choice I think you're right that's kind

of where we are today there is no correct decision and whatever you do if you have Abbi Ortiz

your opening day first base when it's like okay Audra's Chapara is probably your DH then

then after that if you have Audra's Chapara are they really gonna trust Ortiz is bad at this point

I don't know I can't say that confidently maybe you have Riley we do not know that is the

whole point of the nationals message so let me know what you think about first base I am

continued to be wildly surprised the way that they have handled it and I think that there's a lot

more questions and answers at first base moving forward. He's making his one start over the weekend

in the WBC he is now out of the WBC and a lot of people are fed up by it I can tell you this

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club right here locked on nationals dot supercast dot com for some ad free episodes of locked on

nationals you can't beat it you hit one month free with the code march that is locked on nationals

dot supercast dot com. Terp Scubul is leaving team USA to head back to the Troy Tigers and which is

a pretty big story and a lot of people are crushing him for it and he's entering a contract season

as we all know the Tigers are so desperate to get rid of this guy after the arbitration deal

they nearly I mean they totally totally just abandoned the fact that this guy is a back-to-back

saw young winner and it was a very weird situation Terp Scubul at the highest our deal ever by

any player in major league history as he should be he is a back-to-back saw young winner

and the best player in baseball in my opinion but then you see he's leaving team USA and you're like okay

this is USA taking on teams like the DR taking on other teams out there like you'll see Japan

probably in the finals against team USA you'll see Venezuela in the mix as well who's in the middle

of this nationals fans buckle up it is Scott Boris Scott Boris is the driving decision in this

process and I have no doubts about that at this point I do feel as if Scubul is a good kind of guy

to have in your team again I've always talked about this I am always so fired up for a left-handed

picture that throws upper 90s and ramping up for a season and he's just kind of in your face

raw raw kind of guy he's like the lefty version of Mac surezer so I actually understand why he

is stepping away although it is frustrating I will say that they could have had someone else

besides Scubul and if you knew that Scubul would have just made one start the account of one

year to yourself why would you come in for the WBC and can they replace him it sounds zipped

right now that I don't think they can replace him but also they don't seem that worried about it

you had Paul screens go last night against team Mexico which was an incredible matchup

but also you kind of think to yourself like Scubul if you knew that you were going to make one

appearance why get on the team I feel as if that there was a bigger thing at play here because

obviously you want to grow the game and how are you not growing in the game if one of your best

players your nation has to offer is not in the tournament so I do think it does make sense and

there were some drawbacks in it and Scubul thought about making a return for a second start for

team USA but ultimately he decided to go back to the Tigers and which was a little bit of a drawn

out process over a day or so and there were some rumors of it but ultimately it does feel a zip

that Scott Boris and the Detroit Tigers were like no no no no no no you're our best pitcher

you're gonna be the reason why we make it to October and you're gonna hit your butt back in

a spring training and ramp up here with the team interesting decision I will say because if you

look around with baseball as a whole the owner should be on growing the game because obviously

helps grow their pockets and I feel as if coming off the momentum of the Winter Olympics with

team USA hockey sweeping both in the women's and men's gold championship you want to kind of have

that sort of momentum going in with baseball and now you have one of the best players stepping out

of the tournament because he's in the final year of his contract and he wants to get paid

it's one of those decisions where I understand it from Scubul's perspective but the people who are

trying to drive that decision I don't understand it from their perspective if Boris wants to grow

the game and if the owners want to grow the game don't you feel as if Scubul being out there is

probably the best solution for that I don't know maybe I'm crazy but let me know you can tweet at

me at Ryan Clary 11 as we are the Lockdown Nationals podcast where it's your team every single day

and on tomorrow's show we will be tackling that CJ Abrams topic I think there is a little bit

of a mystery of foot with the Nationals not going out there with CJ or not really going out there

with having CJ move over to second I think we all know why but I'll explain more on tomorrow's

show you can tune in right here on Lockdown Nationals have a good one go Nets

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