Losing a generational ballplayer like Juan Soto can be gut-wrenching, something that likely left a lot of Washington Nationals fans feeling ill.
Fortunately, Dr. Mike Rizzo knows the treatment.
Over his tenure as the Nationals’ general manager, Rizzo has repeatedly supplied the cure for the sickening loss of a great Washington player. Sometimes that remedy is an injection of homegrown talent. Other times, Rizzo turns to the healing power of picking up the phone and calling San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller.
In fact, the Padres might consider blocking any phone calls Preller gets from Rizzo. Those calls often lead to Padres fans feeling sick.
That’s how they must have felt Monday night when they learned that Washington’s top prospect and one of the highest-ranked in all of baseball, James Wood, made his debut with the Nationals.
Wood used to be one of the Padres top prospects. So were his teammates at Nationals Park — shortstop C.J. Abrams and starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore.
All three on the field at the same time in a Washington uniform — along with Soto, the former National and Padre, now wearing New York Yankees’ pinstripes? That’s a Pepto-Bismol moment for the Padres and their fans.
Three prospects, all in major league uniforms for another team, and the star they were given up for is gone already?
Hard to swallow in Southern California, but in the nation’s capital, it was a needed shot in the arm — even if the night ended with a disappointing 10-inning 9-7 loss to the New York Mets.
Gore is on his way to becoming a front-line starting pitcher. He gave up just one run on five hits and one walk, striking out eight in 5 2/3 innings. He is 6-7 with a 3.47 ERA in 17 starts.
Abrams went 1-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored and is on his way to an All-Star season, with 13 home runs, 42 RBIs, 14 stolen bases and a .284 average.
Wood? After tearing up spring training in West Palm Beach, batting .364 in 22 games, the 21-year-old outfielder went to Triple-A Rochester and continued to announce his presence with authority, batting .353 with 16 doubles, 10 home runs, 37 RBIs, 44 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. In his major league debut, on the same field with Gore and Abrams, the 6-foot-7, 230-pound Wood connected with a single to left in his first at-bat for his first major league hit. He would later take a walk in the bottom of the 10th as Washington tried to come back.
“Welcome to the majors,” Nationals first base coach Gerardo Parra told Wood.
“The kid did well, he really did,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez told reporters. “That’s what we talked about. He took his walks, he got a base hit his first at-bat, hit the ball the other way, and he hustled. The kid, you watch him, you don’t think he can run but he runs pretty fast. I really liked his at-bats today.”
This hand is still being dealt. Two other pieces of the trade, outfielder Robert Hassell III and pitcher Jarlin Susana, are still in the minor leagues working their way up. Hassell is batting .278 with three home runs, 14 RBI and 11 steals in 49 games at Double-A Harrisburg, while Susana has been struggling at Single-A Fredericksburg, with a 1-7 record and a 4.91 ERA in 13 starts.
What makes this hand a royal flush for Rizzo is that Wood is a local product, growing up in Olney and playing ball at St. John’s College High School in the District. “Being able to play for the team I grew up with and watching is a blessing,” Wood told reporters.
This isn’t the first time Rizzo’s dealings with Preller and the Padres have turned into a win for Washington. Ian Desmond was a two-time All-Star shortstop for Washington when, rather than sign a seven-year, $104 million contract extension with the Nationals in 2014, he became a free agent the following season.
Rizzo replaced Desmond at shortstop with Trea Turner, who he acquired along with pitcher Joe Ross in a deal with San Diego in December 2014, in a three-way deal with Tampa Bay that would bring Wil Myers to the Padres.
Myers would have eight solid years in San Diego. But Turner would emerge as one of the top shortstops in baseball who would help lead Washington to the 2019 World Series title.
Of course, Turner got traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2021 Washington fire sale that the team is still recovering from. Rizzo found a salve for those wounds a year later in San Diego.
⦁ You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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