James Wood is becoming a force on defense for the Washington Nationals

While his hitting rightly gets most of the attention, James Wood is quietly becoming a good defensive outfielder

When James Wood came to the big leagues last year, it was pretty obvious his bat was ready. He destroyed the Minor Leagues and after a brief adjustment period, he was having a lot of success against big league pitching too. However, it was clear that James Wood needed to find his feet on the defensive side of the ball.

Having not played a lot of left field in the Minor Leagues, Wood really struggled to adapt at the MLB level. He looked clumsy and unsure of himself in the field. The numbers bore this out. Wood had -6 OAA in just 79 games last year.

Coming in on balls was a real problem for Wood. He produced -4 OAA on balls going in, an awful mark. You could see his uncertainty when you watched the games last year. He was scared to let anything go over his head, which hurt him on balls going in.

Wood looked years away from even becoming an average defender. The only hope we had was that he could turn his elite athleticism into good performance in the outfield. Wood looking this bad in the field was odd because all the scouting reports either said his defense was solid or outright said it was a strength. Pipeline said that he “glided” in the outfield.

However, the script has flipped. Depending on where you look, Wood is either a slightly above average defender or a plus defender. DRS paints a highly optimistic picture of Wood’s defense. He leads all National League left fielders in defensive runs saved and is second in all of baseball behind only Steven Kwan.

OAA paints Wood as closer to an average defender, with 1 out above average. However, that is still a massive improvement from the -6 he registered last year. This is especially impressive because Wood didn’t really kick his defense into gear until May. In April, he looked slightly improved, but still clunky in the outfield. He would make the occasional great catch, but he would also lumber over to some balls he should have been catching.

This season, Wood is living up to his scouting reports. He is gliding to balls and using his long strides to eat up ground. Wood is now comfortable with all the dimensions and knows what he can and cannot do. That gives him the confidence he needs to use his athleticism to become a good defensive outfielder.

With Wood’s otherworldly hitting ability, all he needs to do defensively is hold his own. Right now he is doing more than just that. He is becoming a true weapon on defense out in left. Wood is becoming a true five tool player before our very eyes. The bat will always be the star of the show, but his glove and speed are becoming good sidepieces.

James Wood is one of the best players in baseball already at just 22 years old. The bat leads the way, but Wood is an all around player, who can do so much on the baseball field.