The Washington Nationals have produced an inconsistent 2025 season, mixing series wins with heavy losses. The team lost 10-5 to the New York Yankees after trailing 10-0 until a Jacob Young grand slam in the ninth made the score look more respectable. James Wood's performance declined after beginning preparations for the 2025 Home Run Derby and working with third base coach Ricky Gutierrez. Wood's batting average had climbed as high as .292 but he has since accumulated strikeouts at an alarming rate. Wood leads the league with 174 strikeouts, reached 177 after Monday, and stands within reach of the single-season record in the remaining 31 games.
After beginning to prep for the 2025 Home Run Derby, in which James Wood was eliminated in the first round, something changed for the young slugger. While I am no expert in hitting and have never claimed to be, it is no secret that he has not been the same player overall since early July when he began his preparation with third base coach Ricky Gutierrez.
Wood, who was as steady of a contributor as anyone in baseball as his batting average climbed as high as .292, began to rack up strikeouts like nobody's business, and that trend has only continued. The Nationals road trip to San Francisco, which saw Wood hit his first homer since the Home Run Derby, seemed like it was going to be a turning point for him, but he has continued to strike out at an alarming rate.
As Mark Zuckerman from MASN Sports wrote, Wood leads the league in strikeouts with 174, adding 3 more on Monday to make his total 177, and he now needs only 47 more strikeouts to set the all-time single-season record. That record was set by former Nationals slugger Mark Reynolds, who struck out 223 times back in 2009 when he was a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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