84% season-shape match
Why he matters right now
James Wood is top-10 in the majors in runs
He is 3rd in runs at 106 — placements on MLB's own season boards, which rank every QUALIFIED hitter in the sport rather than the few dozen this site tracks. Qualified is MLB's own bar, and it is the reason a part-season player with a big number is not on these boards at all.
This has been his headline for 59 straight days.
The case in 30 seconds
- 106 3rd in runs at 106 on MLB's season leaderboards MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
- OPS .891 — 4th of 49 qualified hitters on this site's tracked board snapshot batting board — the union of MLB's top-10 hitting boards, then MLB's 3.1 PA per team game rule applied; not the league's full qualified pool
- 95.4 mph average exit velocity 95.4 mph over 338 batted-ball events — 1st on a 10-deep board of the season's hardest hitters Statcast 2026 hardest-hit leaderboard (single season, top 10 only — not a league-wide ranking)
- 21 21 stolen bases, past his previous best of 15 in 2025; 106 runs, past his previous best of 87 in 2025 year-by-year record, 2 prior seasons since 2024 (MLB Stats API, cached)
- Average exit velocity95.4mph
- Hard-hit rate58.9%
- Barrel rate18.6%
- Max exit velocity116.3mph
This season only, 338 batted-ball events. Ranked 1st on a 10-deep board of the season's hardest hitters — that is a top-of-the-league board, not a league-wide ranking.
The honest caveat
It is still a partial season — 623 plate appearances so far. A rate moves fastest against the strongest arms a schedule has left, and the schedule ahead is not the schedule behind.
Every claim above, with its source (4)
- 3rd in runs at 106 on MLB's season leaderboards MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
- OPS .891 — 4th of 49 qualified hitters on this site's tracked board snapshot batting board — the union of MLB's top-10 hitting boards, then MLB's 3.1 PA per team game rule applied; not the league's full qualified pool
- average exit velocity 95.4 mph over 338 batted-ball events — 1st on a 10-deep board of the season's hardest hitters Statcast 2026 hardest-hit leaderboard (single season, top 10 only — not a league-wide ranking)
- 21 stolen bases, past his previous best of 15 in 2025; 106 runs, past his previous best of 87 in 2025 year-by-year record, 2 prior seasons since 2024 (MLB Stats API, cached)
Other cases this page considered and did not lead with: James Wood sits 4th in OPS among 49 qualified hitters on this site's tracked board; James Wood is on the season's hardest-contact board; James Wood has already passed his career best in stolen bases.
The evidence
Tracked on Live Chases
- 72 Hardest Average Contact Historic · STATCAST only one tracked
The score is an editorial score, not a measurement on a common scale. The rank above is this player's position on his own category's board — the ordering the site stands behind. See all tracked chases →
Situational splits
| Split | AB | AVG | HR | RBI | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs RHP | 319 | .273 | 21 | 51 | .949 |
| vs LHP | 194 | .253 | 9 | 26 | .791 |
| Home | 248 | .294 | 20 | 41 | 1.012 |
| Away | 265 | .238 | 10 | 36 | .778 |
| Day | 220 | .241 | 15 | 29 | .870 |
| Night | 293 | .283 | 15 | 48 | .908 |
2026 season, MLB Stats API. A split with no plate appearances is omitted rather than shown as zeroes.
135G
513AB
136H
.265AVG
30HR
77RBI
21SB
302B
13B
.891OPS
Chasing .400
.265Current AVG
116Consecutive hits needed to reach .400
110-for-100Needed over next 100 AB
—Rest-of-season AVG to finish .400 (70-for-0)
Status: IMPOSSIBLE
Milestone tracker
| Chase | Target | Current | Pace | Needed from here | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .350 AVG | .350 | .265 | .265 | — | IMPOSSIBLE |
| .380 AVG | .380 | .265 | .265 | — | IMPOSSIBLE |
| .400 AVG | .400 | .265 | .265 | — | IMPOSSIBLE |
| .406 AVG | .406 | .265 | .265 | — | IMPOSSIBLE |
| .466 AVG | .466 | .265 | .265 | — | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 50 HR | 50 | 30 | 30 | 20 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 60 HR | 60 | 30 | 30 | 30 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 62 HR | 62 | 30 | 30 | 32 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 70 HR | 70 | 30 | 30 | 40 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 73 HR | 73 | 30 | 30 | 43 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 200 Hits | 200 | 136 | 136 | 64 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 225 Hits | 225 | 136 | 136 | 89 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 250 Hits | 250 | 136 | 136 | 114 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 262 Hits | 262 | 136 | 136 | 126 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 50 SB | 50 | 21 | 21 | 29 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 80 SB | 80 | 21 | 21 | 59 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 100 SB | 100 | 21 | 21 | 79 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 130 SB | 130 | 21 | 21 | 109 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 50 2B | 50 | 30 | 30 | 20 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 60 2B | 60 | 30 | 30 | 30 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 67 2B | 67 | 30 | 30 | 37 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 20 3B | 20 | 1 | 1 | 19 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 25 3B | 25 | 1 | 1 | 24 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 36 3B | 36 | 1 | 1 | 35 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 125 RBI | 125 | 77 | 77 | 48 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 150 RBI | 150 | 77 | 77 | 73 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 175 RBI | 175 | 77 | 77 | 98 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
| 191 RBI | 191 | 77 | 77 | 114 in 0 g | IMPOSSIBLE |
How likely is the finish?
0%finishes with 40+ home runs
0%finishes with 50+ home runs
0%finishes with 60+ home runs
His rate of 48.150 home runs per 1,000 plate appearances is read as 44.860 after regressing toward the league's 30.200 — a leaderboard selects for players who have outperformed, so an unregressed rate projected forward overstates every one of them. That puts the expected finish at 30.0, against a straight team-game pace of 30. Exact beta-binomial over 0 remaining plate appearances, averaged across playing-time scenarios. Calibrated against Retrosheet finishes: within 7 points of observed frequency in every band, and within 2 in three of five. It is a model, not a measurement.
Home run pace vs the benchmark seasons
0.0%of comparable chases reached 40 HR
0.0%of comparable chases reached 50 HR
0.0%of comparable chases reached 60 HR
Empirical: seasons within ±2 HR of his total at the same team-game checkpoint (n=868); median finish 30. Retrosheet.
Recent game log
Derived nightly from the snapshot ledger — each row is the difference between consecutive days; multi-day rows are labeled.
| Date | Opp | Result | AB | H | HR | RBI | R | SB | BB | K | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-01 (6d) | — | — | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .265 |
| 2026-09-25 | New York Mets | W 7-6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .265 |
| 2026-09-23 | Detroit Tigers | W 4-2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .262 |
| 2026-09-22 | Detroit Tigers | W 3-1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .265 |
| 2026-09-21 | Detroit Tigers | L 2-9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .265 |
| 2026-09-20 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 3-5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .265 |
| 2026-09-19 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 8-5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .267 |
| 2026-09-18 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 9-1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .266 |
| 2026-09-16 | Philadelphia Phillies | L 0-3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .265 |
| 2026-09-15 | Philadelphia Phillies | W 6-3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .267 |
Recent highlights
Lahman + Retrosheet context
How this season fits history
Through 162 team games; 73 in 2001