Washington Nationals: 2016 NLDS Tale Of The Tape

Jun 22, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager (5) slides into third base to beat a throw to Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) in the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 22, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager (5) slides into third base to beat a throw to Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) in the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
1 of 12
Washington Nationals
Jun 22, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager (5) slides into third base to beat a throw to Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) in the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

With the NLDS beginning Friday, we look at who has the edge at each position between the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers

The regular season is finally over and the Washington Nationals (95-67) are getting set to begin their NLDS series matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers (91-71) on Friday (FS1/MLB Network). Due to two wins over the Marlins this past weekend, the Nats will have home field advantage in this series.

Today, the starting times for the first two games were announced. These two teams will play Game 1 at 5:38 p.m ET on Friday and Game 2 at 4:08 p.m ET on Saturday. You can watch both games on Fox Sports 1:

These two teams haven’t met since July, but the Dodgers went 5-1 in six games against the Nats this season. This includes a three game sweep by the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in June. However, these two teams have changed since that last meeting.

Both of these teams will be looking to shake off droughts in the NLDS. The Dodgers have not advanced to the NLCS since 2013 while the Washington Nationals are trying to avoid their third loss in the NLDS over the last five seasons.

While the postseason rosters won’t be announced until later in the week, I wanted to look at some of the position battles and see which team has the edge at each position. Some of these positions were easily in favor of one team while the others were close battles. Without further ado, here are my position breakdowns for this NLDS showdown.

 

Schedule