Report: Nationals to call up James Wood when they return home Monday

Grant Paulsen can finally be happy, because he’s getting Wood.

Puns aside, it was our own GP who reported early Friday afternoon that the Nationals’ No. 1 prospect, James Wood, is finally coming to the Majors on Monday:

Wood, as Grant noted, is slashing .346/.456/.578 with 10 homers, 34 RBI, and 13 doubles in 51 games at Triple-A Rochester, and Paulsen has been adamant since well before an injury cost Wood sometime that his call-up to MLB was long overdue.

The news comes a few days after the Nats called up recently-signed outfielder Harold Ramirez from Triple-A and sent Trey Lipscomb back down, and also promoted No. 2 prospect Dylan Crews to Triple-A.

Wood’s debut could fill a HUGE hole in the lineup, as with Joey Gallo on the IL, Joey Meneses has started 14 straight games at first base, leaving Eddie Rosario, hitting .181 with seven homers in 66 games, as the near every-day DH.

The consensus Top 15 MLB prospect has just about evenly played center and left field in Triple-A, with a few games in right, so he could be inserted anywhere into the outfield; however, with center fielder Jacob Young rating as the Nats’ best outfield defender by far, chances are Wood will primarily see time in left, where Jesse Winker (-6 runs prevented, -7 outs above average) has received the bulk of the playing time this year.