Perspective | James Wood arrives — and the Nats’ rebuild edges closer to completion

“I think it’s starting to hit me in pieces,” Wood said quietly.

Three and a half hours later, MacKenzie Gore threw an easy 95.6-mph fastball past New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso for a strikeout that ended the top of the first. Ten minutes after that, CJ Abrams shot a ball into right field for another hit, and five minutes after that he made a who-else-can-do-that, full-360-spin-and-throw to gun down Tyrone Taylor at first. Yeah, the Washington Nationals lost Wood’s debut to the Mets, 9-7, in 10 innings Monday night. But the Nats’ rebuild — painful, so necessary but still painful — is starting to hit in pieces. Thanks, San Diego Padres.

Wood’s major league debut was the most anticipated for the Nats since Bryce Harper, which is now (somehow) a dozen years ago. But it’s also unlike Harper’s in 2012, unlike Juan Soto’s in 2018, unlike Trea Turner’s or Anthony Rendon’s in between. Those players, all ascendant prospects who became stars, arrived to fully formed teams, outfits built to contend. They could be comfortable fitting in.

The 6-foot-7 Wood must stand out. He took to left field for the first inning with a throng standing to greet him because he was a centerpiece of what’s happening with this organization before he had so much as stepped in a big league batter’s box.

Face of the franchise going forward?

“I try not to really look at it that way,” he said.

That’s appropriate. He also may have no choice. Fans who still remember old glory as they lick the wounds left by recent seasons watched, rapt, when the Nationals showed a pregame video of Wood’s highlights from spring training and Class AAA Rochester. They stood when he came up for his first at-bat in the second. And they roared when he worked that at-bat for seven pitches, then hit a laser past diving shortstop Francisco Lindor into left-center, his first hit.

“It’s so exciting, so exciting,” said Mark Lerner, the owner who appeared in the clubhouse before the game and sat in the front row during Wood’s media session. “We’re seeing our vision starting to move forward. The progress the organization is making, this is really, really special.”

Note, for now and the future: The progress won’t continue with, say, Joey Meneses at first and Nick Senzel at third. There was a time to be financially conservative and collect assets. That has happened, but it’s over. The time to spend is coming — and fast.

That’s an ongoing discussion. In the meantime, Wood’s debut was a reminder that the depths of despair just might have been worth it. It’s worth noting that no team has lost more games since the start of the 2020 season than the Nationals. The lowest of those low points, emotionally if not viscerally, was Aug. 2, 2022 — the day the Nats traded Soto to San Diego.

At that point, Wood was a 19-year-old who had never played above Class A, Abrams was a 21-year-old coming off a major injury in the minors, and Gore was a 23-year-old perennial prospect who hadn’t shown the ability to consistently stay on the mound. As far as Nats fans were concerned, they were names on a sheet of paper, the faceless return for a beloved, generational talent. Now, collectively, they look like franchise pillars.

And who knows what becomes of Robert Hassell III, the outfielder still at Class AA, and Jarlin Susana, the huge right-hander who might be ready to move up from low Class A? Those are five players for an organization that needed more than five players. Meanwhile, Soto is still scheduled to be a free agent this offseason. (Psst, Mark Lerner. Don’t forget that fact as offseason planning gets closer. The reality: $500 million can be money well spent.)

Monday, then, was about what Wood represents. But it was also about Wood as a player and a person. That’s important, too.

“I just think he’s an impact player who has a chance to be the piece that gets us back to where we were in ’19,” said Matt LeCroy, Wood’s manager at Rochester.

That’s heady stuff because ’19 would be the World Series year. LeCroy, a veteran of eight big league seasons as a catcher, has been a manager and coach in the Nationals’ organization for 17 more. He knows what he’s looking at in terms of a player’s tools. But he also understands the makeup that helps great big leaguers be great.

“James was always a tremendous human being,” LeCroy said by phone Monday. “He’s a very quiet individual at times, but he treats everybody very well and with a lot of respect. He’s kind of low-key, but he plays the game the right way. I wasn’t quite sure how his demeanor would look on the field, but for me, he was everything that people talk about with his talent — and even more. He wants to be coached. That, for me, is what kind of opened my eyes to what he could become.”

Wood did not instantly open up to Rochester’s coaching staff. “It took about three weeks,” LeCroy said. But then he went for it. He started asking coach Billy McMillon about when and how to be aggressive running the bases. His conversations with hitting coach Brian Daubach grew deeper.

“He’s the one that initiated that openness to learning,” LeCroy said. “He just wanted to be a better player.”

That is the process that can’t stop for Wood as an individual or the Nats as an organization. The Soto trade was a step in making the rebuild possible. But there are steps to come. Abrams can be more consistent, as his costly sixth-inning error reminded everyone. Gore can be more efficient, as his 104-pitch outing yielded explosiveness but only 17 outs. Wood’s feet are barely wet, and the single in his first at-bat was followed by a three-pitch strikeout and a first-pitch groundout — and then a crazy play in the ninth in which a squibber to the pitcher resulted in Wood standing on second base, a play scored an error that might have been a hit.

“Just as soon as the ball’s hit,” Wood said, “I’m just trying to hustle and make it difficult for them.”

He made it difficult on the Mets. He will make it difficult on other teams. And there are more pieces — Dylan Crews, Brady House, etc. — still to come.

“It’s hard not to see what’s happening,” said Jacob Young, the rookie center fielder who has inserted himself as a potential piece. “You’re seeing kind of that core start to grow into something that’s going to be special in a few years.”

It doesn’t have to be a few years. It could be next year. Welcome to Washington, James Wood. May your debut be remembered as deserving of the hype. If it is, it means you developed into the player the Nationals envision. And if that happens, it means you’re a star on a perennial contender that made all the agony of rebuilding worth it.