Nationals’ James Wood trending toward MLB leadoff home run record originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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For the second time in four games, Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood connected on a leadoff home run. Both came early in the count.
Last Saturday, Wood blasted the first offering.
On Tuesday night, he was a bit more selective against Houston Astros starter Tatsuya Imai. Wood, the MLB leader in runs scored, waited for the second pitch to power an 83-mph cutter over the right-field wall at Nationals Park.
With his eighth leadoff homer this season, Wood could threaten Kyle Schwarber’s single-season record of 15, which he established with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2024.
Wood remains one shy of matching Alfonso Soriano’s franchise record. Here is a list of the most leadoff home runs a Nationals player hit during a season:
Player, Leadoff HRs, Season
- 1, Alfonso Soriano, nine, 2006
- 2, Wood, eight, through Tuesday
- 3, Schwarber, seven, 2021
Nationals’ James Wood scoring in bunches
Trending to become the fourth player in MLB history aged 23 or younger to compile 40 home runs and 20 stolen bases during a campaign, Wood is running away with the runs scored category.
Wood entered Tuesday with 81 runs scored, 19 more than the league’s second-best run scorer, Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez. Wood joined Hall of Famer Ted Williams (1940) and Mike Trout (2012) as the only players since 1900 aged 24 or younger to lead the league by at least 16 runs scored past July 5.
Wood scored twice during Tuesday’s 6-3 loss to the visiting Astros. In six July outings, Wood scored 10 runs, including five in the past two games against the Astros.
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