James Wood had another sensational year for the Washington Nationals in 2026.

He slashed .265/.388/.503 and became the second player in Nationals franchise history (2005-present) to hit 30 or more home runs in back-to-back seasons. He was selected to his second All-Star Game in as many years, and he was at the top of the National League in runs scored, walks drawn, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and wRC+.

However, there was once again a noticeable dip in Wood's numbers when looking at his first and second halves of the season.

Just like in 2025, when Wood went from slashing .278/.381/.534 with 24 home runs and 64 RBIs before the All-Star break to slashing .223/.301/.388 with seven homers and 25 RBIs after it, the star slugger saw his production drop following the Midsummer Classic once again when he went from slashing .279/.410/.575 with 28 longballs and 64 RBIs to a slash line of .229/.331/.319 with two home runs and 13 RBIs.

Finishing the major league season strong has become a clear weakness of Wood's. And it's something he's aiming to improve upon during the 2027 campaign.

James Wood Wants to Be Locked in for All 162 Games Next Season

"It's the little things day to day, game to game, not giving away at-bats, not giving away pitches," Wood said, per MLB.com. "I feel like just being able to hone in on that over 162 games makes a pretty big difference."

One can only wonder what his numbers would look like if he was able to repeat what he's done in the first half of seasons into the second. But it's safe to say he would have hit at least 40 homers in both 2025 and 2026, which would have resulted in him finishing top 10 across Major League Baseball in home runs hit during those campaigns.

Having Wood perform at his All-Star level for the entire 162-game calendar is important for the Nationals if they are going to become contenders at some point in the near future. Because of that, it should come as no surprise that manager Blake Butera and his coaching staff are trying to figure out how they can unlock Wood for the whole season moving forward.

Of course, the oblique strain Wood suffered at the beginning of August that resulted in him missing three-plus weeks of action didn't help matters. But the fact that his production has tailed off in the second halves of back-to-back years makes that more of a pattern compared to a trend.

Wood isn't only focused on improving his offense before next season, though. He also has his sights set on improving his defense, which would be a huge development for Washington.

James Wood Plans to Improve His Defense

Something that stood out during 2026 was the defensive positioning of Wood, as Butera opted to utilize the 6-foot-6 outfielder primarily in right field for much of the year. That was a notable change compared to last season, as Wood went from appearing in 123 games in left field and none in right during the 2025 campaign, to appearing in just 19 games in left and 93 games in right.

Fellow struggling defensive outfielder Daylen Lile was the inverse of Wood, as Lile went from getting the majority of his reps in right field during 2025 to the majority of his reps in left during 2026. That turned out to be a huge help for Lile, as he went from being an outfielder worth minus-10 in defensive runs saved and minus-six in outs above average to being plus-eight in DRS, plus-two in OAA and a Gold Glove finalist.

Unfortunately, that magic didn't come for Wood. After he was worth plus-one in defensive runs saved and minus-seven in outs above average last year as a left fielder, he was worth minus-six in DRS and minus-five in OOA in right field.

Wood will likely never become an elite defender, but that's not going to stop the 24-year-old from trying to improve his defense ahead of next season.

"Defensively, I feel like I've left a lot of runs on the table for the pitchers," he stated. "And I want to be able to help those guys out a lot more."