Sunday’s (6-4) win over Philadelphia Phillies by the Washington Nationals avoided a four-game sweep and ended the club’s four-game losing streak.

One of the main culprits in the win was slugger James Wood who hit his fifth homer since being called up July 1st, he’s also added 28 RBI and 44 total hits while batting a solid (.284). A huge reason for Wood’s early success is how much more adept he is against left-handed pitchers.

 

Thought to be a bit of a weakness in his arsenal, Wood has proved early on that he can hit southpaws and do it at a pretty high clip. In fact, he began to show signs during his time in Triple-A when he went 15-for-46 with a double, five homers, 12 RBI and seven walks in 53 plate appearances, which in totality produced a .326/.415/.674 slash line and 1.089 OPS.

Although the Triple-A numbers proved he could, everyone wondered if it would translate to the majors.

 

Wood Hitting .300 Versus Southpaws

Still only 21-years-old with so much more untapped potential, Wood is showing on a consistent basis that the sky is the limit. In 169 plate appearances with the Nationals, he’s taking a solid .300 versus lefties which also includes an opposite field double versus Phillies lefty reliever Matt Strahm in the Nationals (3-2) walk-off loss on Friday.

 

Speaking with reporters following the game, Wood had this to say about his play against lefties.

 

“I feel like I’ve always been pretty good against lefties. I feel like it’s always been a challenge. I feel like just going up there, trying to embrace the challenge just makes it, it’s tough, but obviously none of these pitchers are slouches, either. These guys are really good, and just try to go up there and compete.”

 

Versus lefties in the majors Wood has 18 hits, three doubles, one triple, one home run, 10 RBI and five walks. His .354 on-base percentage and .433 slugging percentage equal a solid and respectable.787 OPS against southpaw hurlers.

 

For Wood It’s All About Discipline

It retrospect it seems as if the Nationals brass tasking Wood with getting better versus lefties, the supremely talented soon to be face of the franchise took it as an opportunity to get better in all areas.

“I’m just trying to get good pitches to hit. Obviously, you just got to be really disciplined with these guys. And I just feel like I’ve been doing enough damage on my pitches, which hopefully I can continue to get better at.”

That he will, while becoming one of the baseball’s best and most complete players in all of MLB.