Washington Nationals: What to Watch For in Upcoming Cubs Series
By Grant Thomas
We give you the three things to watch for in this week’s Washington Nationals series against the Chicago Cubs
Tonight, the Washington Nationals will begin a three game series against the Chicago Cubs at Nats Park. Why is this series the most important of this season thus far? Chicago is the best team in baseball, and the Nats will need to figure out a way to beat them if anything of importance will be accomplished this season. Also, Washington needs to redeem itself after the way the last series ended.
The two teams first met in a four-game set at Wrigley on May 5-8. While each game was competitive (each game decided by three runs or fewer), the Cubs outscored the Washington Nationals 25-16 and swept the series. The Cubs did pitch two of their better starters, Jake Arrieta (10-1, 2.56 FIP, 1.86 ERA) and Jason Hammel (7-2, 2.36 ERA, 3.28 FIP)
It was still an underwhelming series for the Washington Nationals. At least a 3-1 series was the expectation. There still isn’t any meaningful stakes; it’s not a divisional matchup, and three games don’t mean much in baseball. But Chicago is the team to beat, and this upcoming series is the last chance in the regular season to salvage some wins against a team that they could be seeing in October.
As these two teams get set to begin the series, here are my three things to watch for as the Washington Nationals look for their redemption against Joe Maddon‘s Cubs.
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