All-Star voting opened yesterday, and if early-season production mattered more than market size, the Washington Nationals would send two starters to Philadelphia: James Wood in the outfield and CJ Abrams up the middle. Through the first two months and change, both have the counting stats and the run creation to make a convincing case for National League starting nods.
Wood has been the engine of the Nationals’ offense. Washington leads baseball in runs scored, and Wood is first in the major leagues in runs scored. He’s posted a 158 wRC+, eighth in baseball, and ranks third among outfielders in WAR — a tidy combination of volume and impact that typically draws All-Star votes from fans and peers alike.
Abrams has supplied complementary production. He’s been second in MLB in RBI and sits at a 152 wRC+, 11th in the majors. Those numbers reflect a player who has driven runs and pushed Washington’s lineup in ways that matter in the everyday standings: getting people home.
The stakes for the Nationals are clear. The team has been described as on the upswing, and having two starters in the All-Star lineup would be tangible recognition of that turnaround on a national stage next month in Philadelphia. The author believes Wood and Abrams are the only Nationals likely to make it; other candidates exist, but they are long shots.
Those long shots include Curtis Mead, whose breakout season created buzz but who lacks name-brand value and had not been an everyday player until recently; Brad Lord, who has been excellent in a multi-inning relief role; and Cade Cavalli, whose strikeout totals and low FIP give him a path if he catches fire in June. Keibert Ruiz had a monster month of May and provides another fringe option, but none of those three offer the same combined profile of runs and rate production that Wood and Abrams present.
The selection picture is not friction-free. In WAR, Abrams trails Elly De La Cruz and Otto Lopez — and sits just 0.1 wins behind Lopez — which complicates the tidy statistical argument for him as a starter. De La Cruz, however, is set to miss time with an injury, which reshuffles how fans and managers may view middle-infield choices on ballots and in rosters. Still, despite Abrams’ slight WAR deficit, his RBI totals, wRC+ and role in the Nationals’ offense make a strong case for a starting slot.
Practical reality matters: fan ballots and manager picks will decide starters and reserves. Voting opened yesterday and will be the immediate mechanism to turn these production-based arguments into roster spots. If Nationals fans mobilize, Wood’s league-leading runs and Abrams’ run-producing profile are the kinds of headline figures that can cut through the noise of larger markets.
What to watch while voting is open: whether Wood’s top-five run totals and third-best outfielder WAR translate into enough fan and peer recognition to finish among the National League’s top starters, and whether Abrams can overcome the WAR edge held by De La Cruz and Lopez — especially with De La Cruz’s impending absence — to secure a starting spot. The next confirmed step is the ballot box; the unresolved gap is whether voters will reward production from a smaller market club the way the numbers suggest they should.
If voting delivers, Washington will arrive in Philadelphia with two starters who have carried the club’s offense through the season’s first two months and change; if it does not, the Nationals’ statistical case will stand as one more example of players from smaller-market teams being overlooked on All-Star ballots despite leading the league in the categories that matter most.
