James Wood is back.
The Washington Nationals will raise their hopes of a special September with the latest injury news that came out on Wednesday morning.
The Nats announced that Wood has been returned from his rehab assignment and reinstated from the 10-Day Injured List:
The Nationals have announced the following roster moves:
-Returned James Wood from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 10-day Injured List
-Recalled Riley Cornelio from Triple-A Rochester
-Designated Tom Cosgrove for assignment
— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) September 2, 2026
Wood had been out since getting injured on August 3.
The big slugger felt pain in his left side after a swing during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Afterward, Wood was diagnosed with a strained left oblique. That’s one of the trickiest injuries a hitter can get, because that muscle on the side of a torso is so heavily involved in a swing.
Wood also has big obliques, given that he’s 6-foot-7, so his long levers need a lot of torque to create his immense power.
The Nationals will certainly welcome his bat back to the lineup.
James Wood’s Special Season Resumes
Wood was putting together the best season of his career prior to the injury.
Through 114 games, he had hit 30 home runs and 26 doubles. He had stolen 17 bases in 19 attempts. He had driven in 73 runs while putting up a career-best .928 OPS.
Wood was also scoring runs at an absurd rate. He had 100 runs scored through 114 games. Astoundingly, Wood still leads all of Major League Baseball in that stat despite missing the last month.
The tantalizingly talented Wood is still just 23 years old — he’ll turn 24 on Sept. 17.
He put up a .781 OPS as a rookie, then an .825 mark in 2025, so he’s continued on the upswing of his career.
Wood still strikes out a lot, but he also already has his career-high in walks, with 90 this season, helping him hold the current National League lead with a .393 on-base percentage.
The Nats were mostly using Wood in the leadoff spot, a spot that wouldn’t classically be used for a player like Wood but one which clearly was comfortable for him this season.
Can the Nationals Make the Playoffs?
The problem with Wood’s absence is that it’ll be hard for the Nationals to reach the postseason.
The Nats are 67-74 ahead of Wood’s Wednesday return, which puts them 16 games back in the NL East Division.
Painfully, they’re also 7.0-games back from the final Wild Card spot, which is currently held by the San Diego Padres at 73-66.
Maybe that’s a deficit Washington could make up if Wood gets hot, but the other problem is that there are four teams between the Nats and that spot. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates all have better records than the Nationals but are outside the Wild Card looking in.
Washington would need a historic month to chase down a playoff spot. But the best possible news they could get arrived with Wood’s return on Wednesday, and so it isn’t over until it’s over.
James Wood Injury Update Is Massive News for Nationals