Wood (oblique) is expected to be activated from the injured list Wednesday, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
Manager Blake Butera said that Wood's return is contingent on him feeling good when he wakes up Wednesday morning, but chances are that he returns to the Nationals' lineup for their series finale against Atlanta. The 23-year-old has slashed .265/.393/.535 across 535 plate appearances when healthy this season, though he owns just a .620 OPS in the 17 games he's played since the All-Star break.
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Nationals' James Wood: Getting minor-league action Sunday
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Wood (oblique) will play seven innings in left field for Double-A Harrisburg on Sunday, Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic reports.
It'll likely be Wood's only game on his rehab assignment, with Nationals manager Blake Butera saying Saturday "we'll probably give [Wood] Monday off, then we'll see from there." Wood could be back with the Nationals as soon as Tuesday, when major-league rosters expand to 28 players. He is in the final stages of his recovery from a left oblique strain that caused him to go on the 10-day injured list in early August.
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Nationals' James Wood: Participates in batting practice
Rotowire
Wood (oblique) participated in Friday's batting practice, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
Wood took another step in his recovery from a left oblique strain that landed him on the 10-day injured list Aug. 4. Nationals manager Blake Butera noted Friday that Wood may not need to go on a rehab assignment and could be back in the team's lineup by next week.
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Nationals' James Wood: Healing slowly from oblique strain
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Nationals manager Blake Butera said Sunday that Wood has been progressing more slowly than the team hoped from his left oblique strain, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
Wood hasn't been shut down from baseball activities completely, but the 24-year-old outfielder remains in a holding pattern and hasn't been cleared for more strenuous exercises. Per MLB.com, Wood has been throwing at about 65 percent intensity out to 90 feet, taking dry swings at about 70 percent intensity and swinging off a tee at about 60 percent intensity. Based on where he currently stands in his recovery, Wood looks to be at least a week or two away from potentially rejoining the Nationals.
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Nationals' James Wood: Not expected back this week
Rotowire
Manager Blake Butera said Tuesday that Wood (oblique) is not expected to be activated from the injured list when eligible later this week, Danielle Allentuck of The Washington Post reports.
Wood has progressed to fielding drills and throwing from 45 feet, and he's expected to take dry swings with the bat Tuesday. He suffered a strained left oblique Aug. 3 and has missed the Nationals' past six contests. Dylan Crews has been handling right field in Wood's absence.
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Nationals' James Wood: Getting MRI tomorrow
Rotowire
Wood hurt his left side during Monday's matchup against the Phillies and will undergo an MRI Tuesday, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
On his last swing, Wood hurt his left side in the sixth inning. The 23-year-old tried to take a couple of swings, but didn't feel comfortable playing the rest of the game. Dylan Crews replaced Wood as a defensive substitution in the bottom of the eighth inning.
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Nationals' James Wood: Big day at Fenway
Rotowire
Wood went 2-for-4 with two walks, a three-run home run and a second run scored in Wednesday's 10-2 rout of the Red Sox.
The star outfielder wrapped up the scoring for the Nationals by taking Alec Gamboa deep in the seventh inning, giving Wood his 22nd homer of the season. The star outfielder went 13 straight games without going yard in the second half of June, but Wood's bat could be heating back up -- over his last six games he's gone 8-for-24 (.333) with two doubles, two home runs and six RBI.
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Nationals' James Wood: Goes yard in loss
Rotowire
Wood went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 6-3 loss to Boston.
Wood's first swing of the day was a memorable one, as he launched a 2-0 sinker from Ranger Suarez well over the right-field wall for a leadoff homer. The 441-foot blast snapped a 13-game homer drought, marking the big outfielder's first long ball since June 15. The star 23-year-old has been as good as advertised in 2026, slashing .258/.383/.509 with 21 homers, 20 doubles, 50 RBI, 73 runs and 13 stolen bases across 86 games.
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Nationals' James Wood: Reaches base three times Monday
Rotowire
Wood went 2-for-4 with a walk, a double and two runs scored in Monday's win over the Phillies.
The star outfielder scored multiple runs for the fifth time in the last 12 games as he continues to be an effective table-setter for the Nationals. Over that stretch, Wood is slashing .319/.382/.596 with four doubles, three homers, two steals, nine RBI and 12 runs, and his 70 runs on the season doesn't just lead the majors, it's 14 ahead of the second-place duo of Nick Kurtz and Brice Turang.
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Nationals' James Wood: Swipes bag, collects three hits
Rotowire
Wood went 3-for-5 with one RBI, a stolen base and two runs scored in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Giants.
Wood has gone 7-for-19 (.368) over the first five games of the Nationals' road trip. He's also posted a steal in both of the last two contests, giving him 12 thefts on 13 attempts as he tracks toward a career year on the basepaths. The outfielder is also hitting .271 with a .934 OPS, 17 home runs, 41 RBI, 60 runs scored and 15 doubles across 68 games. He continues to be Washington's main leadoff hitter.
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Nationals' James Wood: Clubs homer in blowout win
Rotowire
Wood went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk and three total runs scored in Friday's 14-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
Wood has gone 13-for-38 (.342) with four homers over his last 10 contests, though he came into Friday's game hitless over his last two games. The outfielder continues to do it all atop the Nationals' lineup. He's batting .267 with a .944 OPS, 17 homers, 40 RBI, 56 runs scored, 15 doubles and 10 stolen bases through 64 games.
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Nationals' James Wood: Big day in Cleveland
Rotowire
Wood went 3-for-4 with a walk, a two-run home run, a second run scored and a stolen base in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Guardians.
Getting the start in left field, Wood took Joey Cantillo deep in the second inning -- just his third homer of the season off a southpaw, compared to 11 against right-handed pitching. Wood has racked up three or more hits in four of the last nine games, slashing a blistering .444/.535/.750 over that stretch with two doubles, three long balls, two steals, eight RBI and 10 runs.
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Nationals' James Wood: Homers during four-hit night
Rotowire
Wood went 4-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Monday's 10-2 win over Cleveland.
Wood wasted no time making an impact, leading off the game with a 412-foot homer off Tanner Bibee as part of the Nationals' five-homer barrage against the right-hander. The four-hit performance tied a season high for the young star, who continues to be one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Wood has now reached base safely in 10 of his last 11 games while batting .395 (17-for-43) with eight walks during that stretch. On the season, he is slashing .267/.405/.533 with 14 home runs, 14 doubles, 35 RBI, 47 runs scored and eight stolen bases.
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Nationals' James Wood: Logs eighth steal of season
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Wood went 0-for-2 with two walks, a steal and a run scored during Washington's 2-1 win over Atlanta on Sunday.
Wood drew a walk and stole second base in the eighth inning before being brought home two batters later on an RBI single by Luis Garcia. It was the eighth steal of the season for Wood, who is on track to surpass his 2025 total of 15 stolen bases. He has reached base safely in nine of his last 10 games, and over that span he has gone 13-for-38 (.342) with one home run, five RBI, nine runs scored and an 8:9 BB:K.
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Nationals' James Wood: Inside-the-park grand slam in win
Rotowire
Wood went 3-for-4 with a grand slam and an additional run scored during the Nationals' 9-6 win over the Mets on Tuesday.
With the bases loaded in the second inning, Wood drove a ball deep to left-center field that barely glanced off the mitt of a leaping Nick Morabito. The ball trickled out to center field, and that was enough for Wood to hustle around the bases for the first grand slam of his major-league career, albeit in an unconventional matter. Wood has logged three hits in back-to-back games and is up to 13 home runs on the season, which leads the Nationals and is tied with Drake Baldwin (oblique) and Jordan Walker for the third-best total in the National League.
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Nationals' James Wood: Homers in loss
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Wood went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a double, a walk and an additional run scored in Saturday's 8-7 loss to the Marlins.
Wood led off the game with a 442-foot blast and was a consistent contributor in a losing effort. Over his past 10 games, the 23-year-old has posted four multi-hit performances, five extra-base hits, eight runs scored and seven RBI. For the year, he's slashing .243/.395/.526 with 11 homers, 28 RBI, 35 runs scored and seven steals across 190 plate appearances.
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Nationals' James Wood: Swipes two bags in Wednesday's rout
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Wood went 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored, two RBI and two stolen bases in Wednesday's win over the Twins.
Both steals came against the battery of Bailey Ober and Victor Caratini, as Wood improved to a 7-for-8 showing on the basepaths this season. The 23-year-old's bat has gone a little cold, however -- he hasn't homered in 11 straight games, a stretch in which he's slashing .200/.347/.250 with two doubles, six runs and six RBI.
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Nationals' James Wood: Power surge continues Wednesday
Rotowire
Wood went 2-for-3 with two walks, a solo home run and a second run scored in Wednesday's loss to Atlanta.
The 23-year-old slugger has gone yard four times in the last six games, including a 413-foot shot off southpaw Martin Perez in the sixth inning Wednesday that cleared the visitors' bullpen in left-center field at Nationals Park. After a tepid start to the season, Wood is slashing a massive .339/.506/.774 over his last 17 games with eight of his nine homers on the year, along with four steals, 17 RBI and 21 runs.
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Nationals' James Wood: Homers, reaches five times Tuesday
Rotowire
Wood went 1-for-2 with a solo home run, four walks and three runs scored in Tuesday's 11-4 win over Atlanta.
Wood led off the first inning with a walk, and Atlanta starter Reynaldo Lopez eventually needed 46 pitches to record his first three outs. Wood then tagged Lopez for a leadoff homer in the second inning. Perhaps most impressively, Wood didn't strike out Tuesday, marking just the third time he's accomplished that in a game this season, as he entered play with a league-high 36 punchouts. The 23-year-old is now slashing .242/.390/.558 with eight homers, 18 RBI, 23 runs scored, four stolen bases and a 21:36 BB:K across 118 plate appearances. Wood has drawn multiple walks in six of 24 games and has reached base safely in 20 of 24 contests.
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Nationals' James Wood: Homers, scores thrice Saturday
Rotowire
Wood went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, hit-by-pitch, two walks, two RBI and three runs scored in Saturday's 7-6 extra-innings loss to the Giants.
Wood led off the game with a solo homer against Adrian Houser and was then hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second inning. Wood has now homered in back-to-back games and has seven on the season, with six of those long balls coming over his last 13 contests. On the season, Wood is slashing .256/.385/.570 with seven long balls, 18 RBI, 20 runs scored, four stolen bases and a 16:33 BB:K across 104 plate appearances.
