This could've been James Wood's stage every night. The 6-foot-7 slugger was a San Diego Padres farmhand. But in 2022, he was part of a package also including CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore that went to the Washington Nationals for Juan Soto. On Monday night, Wood showed the San Diego faithful what they were missing.

James Wood has been a monster. In 78 games, he's hit 21 homers and has driven in 57 runs, slashing .279/.376/.558 for an OPS+ that's a staggering 63 points above the league average of 100. What's even scarier about the ceiling of the 22-year-old is that he hasn't even played a full season's worth of games yet,

The Home Run Derby is still weeks away, set for July 14 in Atlanta, and has no official entrants yet. “Would I like to see him do it?” Manager Dave Martinez said. “Yeah.”