James Wood

It would be difficult to find a player in the 2021 class with more overall upside than IMG Academy outfielder James Wood. The son of a college and professional basketball player, Wood has a unique collection of traits and tools packed into a massive, 6-foot-6, 230-pound frame. Like his father, Wood was also a talented basketball player but began focusing exclusively on baseball after transferring from Maryland to IMG. He has some of the best raw power in the class—which some scouts have given a future 70 grade—he moves exceptionally well for his size and has played an impressive center field, he can throw and he showed impressive bat-to-ball skills with a smooth and leveraged lefthanded swing last spring. However, for as good as Wood was a year ago, he struggled this spring while playing for perhaps the most scrutinized and heavily-scouted high school team in the nation. While Wood did show some swing-and-miss tendencies over the summer, he struck out at a significantly higher rate this spring which raised questions about how much the long-levered slugger would be able to make contact at the next level. Wood has used a very low handset in his setup at the plate, and when he’s on time it hasn’t been an issue with more than enough bat speed to get on plane and catch velocity out in front. However, Wood has recently tweaked his setup with a wider base and a higher handset to try and simplify the process and let himself simply react and use his hands naturally. It’s most likely that Wood winds up in a corner outfield spot, simply because players of his size so rarely stick in center field at the big league level, but he does have the speed and route-running ability to handle the position. Wood might be a bit of a split-camp player at the top of the draft because some teams will shy away from his long levers and swing-and-miss tendencies, but for teams unafraid to take a shot on massive upside, his tool set easily fits in the first round. Wood is committed to Mississippi State.