Washington Nationals Series Preview: Nationals vs. Marlins (5/4-5/6)
Apr 21, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (27) rounds third after hitting a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the fourth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Nationals start a three game series against the Miami Marlins tonight at Nats Park. These two teams played a series less than two weeks ago at the Marlins Park, a series in which the Nationals lost all three games to the Marlins to start their ten game road trip.
Giancarlo Stanton got hot during the series with the Nationals and has continued to hit the ball well. In the last ten days, he has gone from hitting .245 to hitting .272. He proved to be a problem during the last series with the Nationals. Stanton has 24 RBI already, one of the league leaders in that category. Expect Stanton to continue to punish the Nats pitchers during this series.
Marcell Ozuna is also hitting very well for the Marlins. He is currently batting .317. Adeiny Hechavarria is still hot, hitting over .300 and has 16 RBI.
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The Nationals bats finally heated up during the last road trip against the Braves. However, the New York Mets pitching cooled the Nats bats off. They won their last two games against the Mets each by the score of 1-0. They left tons of men on base and could not hit with runners in scoring position. They got the wins due to incredibly good pitching, not because of hitting.
One of the questions for this series with the Marlins is whether the Nationals have reverted to their low scoring ways or whether the Nats bats can break out again and score some runs.
Let’s look at the pitching matchups for this series:
Next: Monday's Matchup
Apr 24, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann (27) tosses the baseball around after giving up a run during the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Monday: Jordan Zimmermann (2-2, 4.88 ERA) vs. David Phelps (1-0, 3.38 ERA), 7:05 pm EST, broadcast on MASN
Jordan Zimmermann had a start against the Marlins on April 24th during the last road trip. Jordan pitched well, only giving up two earned runs in six innings, getting the no decision. The bullpen could not come through in a tie game and gave up a run late to give the Marlins a 3-2 win.
It will be interesting to see if the Marlins hitters have more success against Jordan this time, having just seen him ten days ago, or whether Zimmermann will have even more success against Marlins hitters now that he just saw them.
David Phelps is one of the Marlins good, young pitchers who has thrown the ball very effectively this year. Phelps started the year in the bullpen, making two appearances. He has had three starts this year and hasn’t yet lost a game.
Phelps is the kind of pitcher with whom the Nationals will have trouble with. The Nats hitters haven’t seen him yet this year. Their hitters traditionally can’t hit pitchers they are facing for the first time, even if in the long run they prove out to be not particularly good. A new starting pitcher’s shining moment is usually facing the Nats for the first time.
I suspect that this will be a tight game with both pitchers throwing well, but the Nats inability to score against pitchers with whom they are not familiar and their general hitting difficulties so far this year tends to give the advantage to the Marlins in this game.
Next: Tuesday's Matchup
Apr 25, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg (37) throws against the Miami Marlins during the first inning at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Tuesday: Stephen Strasburg (2-2, 4.60 ERA) vs. Mat Latos (0-3, 6.86 ERA), 7:05 pm EST, broadcast on MASN
Stephen Strasburg has had one really good start this year, his April 19th outing against the Philadelphia Phillies. In that start, he was the Strasburg everyone anticipates seeing–one run allowed in 7.1 nnings, five hits, seven strikeouts. Strasburg did not pitch badly in his last outing against the Mets, but he wasn’t. He gave up two earned runs, but only went 5.1 innings and threw 100 pitches. He scuffled the first two innings before getting in the groove.
Strasburg usually pitches very well against the Marlins. However, he did not shine in his last start against the Fish on April 25th, taking the loss and giving up four earned runs in six innings. Strasburg tends to pitch well at Nationals Park, and being at home may help.
Mat Latos is the scheduled Miami starter, but he did get injured last time out. Latos left his last start on April 29th against the New York Mets with tightness in his hamstring. He will get the start in this one, but it will be interesting to see how long he can go with that hamstring issue.
Latos faced the Nats on April 24th and held the Nationals to two runs in 6.1 innings. He and Jordan Zimmermann went toe to toe, both only allowing two runs. Neither figured in the decision.
Expect this game between Strasburg and Latos to be the same. Both pitchers will probably pitch adequately, neither giving up lots of runs, with the bullpens deciding this one. That is, unless Strasburg has one of those stellar outings of which he is capable, in which case the Nats should be able to win, or Latos can’t pitch at all or can’t go deep because of his injury. This matchup between Strasburg and Latos is a toss up.
May 1, 2015; New York City, NY, USA;Washington Nationals starting pitcher
Max Scherzer
(31) delivers a pitch against the New York Mets in the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
Wednesday: Max Scherzer (1-3, 1.26 ERA) vs. Tom Koehler (2-2, 4.67 ERA), 1:05 pm EST, MASN and MLB Network
Max Scherzer must be cursing the day he agreed to come to the Washington Nationals, at least so far. He has one of the lowest ERA’s in the NL for a starter, and has a 1-3 record to show for it. In his last game pitched against the Mets, he gave up one run and took the loss. The Nats could not plate anything against Matt Harvey or the Mets bullpen. It was a great pitcher’s duel, but Scherzer came out on the wrong end of the stick.
This game is shaping up to be a similar pitching duel, not because Miami starter Tom Koehler is that good, but because the Nats are that bad against him.
The Nationals had to deal with Tom Koehler during their road trip to Miami and it did not go well for the guys wearing the curly W. Koehler went 7.1 innings, and gave up no runs on six hits. The Nationals could not drive in a run during that game against Koehler or the Marlins bullpen. Koehler chewed the Nats up and spit them out. Strasburg gave up four runs, the Nats bullpen gave up four runs, and the road trip went from bad to worse.
Koehler did not go long in his last start against the Mets. He lasted five innings, gave up three runs and did not figure in the decision in a Miami victory. He should be fresh for his start against the Nationals.
Since the Nats just saw Koehler, will the Nationals hitters be able to figure out how he was so effective against them and make the adjustments at the plate? History suggests that Scherzer will not give up many runs, so the Nats have to figure out how to score a few runs against Koehler this time around.
If the Nats can score a couple of runs, it should be enough for Scherzer to get the win. If the Nationals continue to give Scherzer no run support, this one may go to Miami.