James Wood Just Hit the First Inside-the-Park Grand Slam in Four Years and It Was Pure Chaos
James Wood ran a circle around the bases. That’s not figurative. That happened on Tuesday in Washington.
The 23-year-old Nationals outfielder hit the first inside-the-park grand slam in Major League Baseball since 2022. He did it in his first career grand slam at-bat. He did it against the Mets. He did it during a 9-6 comeback win at Nationals Park.
Take a moment with that. A first career grand slam. Inside the park. Bases loaded. Game on the line.
It’s the 26th inside-the-park grand slam since 1969. Wood is now part of one of the shortest lists in modern baseball history.
How It Happened
The Nationals were down 5-0 in the second inning. Nolan McLean was on the mound for the Mets. Wood stepped up with the bases loaded. He swung at the first pitch, a sweeper, and crushed it 379 feet toward the Mets’ bullpen at 101.3 mph off the bat.
The ball was hit hard enough that on most days, in most parks, it leaves. On Tuesday, the trajectory took it to a deep section of right-center where it had a chance to bounce around. It did exactly that.
Nick Morabito, the Mets’ left fielder making his MLB debut, gave chase. He got there. He had the ball in his glove. The ball came out. The ball rolled. Wood was already rounding second when the ball was loose.
The Nationals waved him around third. The throw came in. The slide. The call. Safe.
Wood circled the bases in 15.15 seconds. That’s not slow. That’s not fast. That’s a 6-foot-7 outfielder running for his life because he knows the bullpen is closer than the dugout.
What This Means for Wood
This is a star turn. Wood was already in the conversation as one of the best young hitters in the National League. He had a strong rookie year in 2025 and has carried the production forward into 2026 as the Nationals try to build something around him, CJ Abrams, and Dylan Crews.
An inside-the-park grand slam is the kind of moment that gets edited into highlight reels for years. It’s also the kind of moment that becomes part of a player’s identity in the city he plays for. Wood is going to be a Nationals folk hero for a long time after this play, even if it’s just a small piece of what is shaping up to be a long career.
The 9-6 comeback win was equally significant. Washington has not been a competitive franchise since the 2019 World Series team broke apart. The kids the team has assembled are starting to show signs of being more than just future prospects. They’re winning games like this in the present tense.
Morabito’s Debut
This was Nick Morabito’s first day in the major leagues. The Mets’ rookie outfielder made his debut, got into a play that he had no chance of finishing cleanly, and ended up on the wrong side of one of the rarest plays in baseball.
That’s a tough start. The good news for Morabito is that he’s young and the rest of his career is in front of him. The bad news is that the clip is now on the internet forever, and there’s nothing he can do about that.
The Mets’ bigger problem is that they have been losing winnable games at a pace that has them looking up at the Phillies, the Braves, and the Nationals in the NL East. The franchise was supposed to be reloaded and ready to compete after the offseason. The first six weeks have not gone according to plan.
The Game’s Strangest Play
Inside-the-park home runs in general are rare in 2026. The dimensions of modern parks plus the way outfielders position themselves usually keep balls in front of the wall or in the seats. Inside-the-park grand slams are even rarer. The combination of bases loaded, ball staying in the park, and the runner getting all the way around is mathematically improbable.
Wood pulled it off on his first try. That’s one for the highlight package.
For Nationals fans, Tuesday was the kind of night that makes you remember why you fell in love with baseball in the first place. Anything can happen. James Wood proved it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
