James Wood’s defense was a tale of two seasons in 2025. To begin the season, he looked like a very solid defender out in left field, putting up 2 OAA in June, which brought him to an even 0 OAA entering
July, surpassing many fans and experts’ expectations. In the second half, however, his defensive cracks began to show, as he posted -6 OAA from July to September, including -3 OAA in September alone. Overall, despite his roughly average arm strength and sprint speed, Wood finished near the bottom of left fielders in terms of overall defense.
Entering 2026, the left field job is all Woods, as he is the best bat on the ball club and the future of the organization, but with how much talent the club has in or near the big leagues in the outfield, it is fair to start to wonder when it’s time to consider James Wood as a full-time designated hitter.
For starters, it would make an extension much easier to get done, as Wood would likely be cheaper to lock up as a DH than an outfielder. It could also help Wood maximize his ability as a hitter, as he is more rested from not playing outfield and has more time to focus on his offensive game.
It would be a shame to write off James Wood as a defender so early in his career, however, especially when he showed some flashes as a defender in the first half of 2025, so let’s take a look at how much Wood needs to improve on defense this season to hold the left field job entering 2027.
Of the 33 qualified left fielders in baseball, Wood ranked 29th among them in OAA at -7. While he was a much better hitter than the names slightly above and below him on that leaderboard, it still is rough company to be in, especially at such a young age when he should be near his athletic prime. For Wood’s 2026 season to be considered a defensive success to me, I’d like to see him get to around -3 to -4 OAA, still below average, but an improvement from where he was in 2025.
According to Statcast, the aspect of left field Wood needs the most work on is fielding balls hit to his right, his non-glove side, on which he had a -5 OAA. While towards the foul line can be very difficult to defend for non-left-handed right fielders, getting Wood closer to -1 to -2 OAA on those plays would be a strong starting point in improving his overall defense in the outfield.
Wood also faced some issues with balls hit behind him, where he posted a -2 OAA in 2025. While good coaching will be critical in helping Wood improve his jumps and routes to fly balls, maybe the most important step in improving on defense will come from Wood himself, and learning from his full season of experience in 2025.
While he doesn’t need to go from one of the worst to one of the best in a year to make me confident in him as a defender, he for sure cannot afford to regress as a defender if he wants to avoid becoming a full-time DH sometime soon. If 2026 proves to be more of the same, Wood becoming the Nats’ designated hitter isn’t the end of the world, as it cheapens a possible extension and frees up playing time for youngsters such as Robert Hassell and Christian Franklin.
For those interested, linked here is a tool in Baseball Savant that allows you to play around with all sorts of defensive situations Wood was faced with in 2025, anywhere from his success by exit velocity, distance, to catch probability.
