Washington Nationals: Stephen Strasburg Looks To Continue Opening Day Success

Volquez Looking For Good First Impression

Volquez is back in the National League for the first time since he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2014. As mentioned before, the 33-year-old right-hander got the start on Opening Day last year, but it was for the then defending champion Kansas City Royals.

Last season, Volquez made 34 starts for the second consecutive season, but he had a under .500 record (10-11) and an ERA of 5.37 in 189.1 innings. Over the last two seasons, his strikeouts per nine innings have been seven or lower.

His second half didn’t go particularly well last year as opponents hit .317 with 12 home runs against him and Volquez’s ERA was 6.12 over those 15 starts. With that being said, Miami hopes he can be one of those starters that give them 5-6 good innings and get a lead to their bullpen.

If there’s one pitch that Volquez struggled with over that stretch of starts, it was his sinker. According to Brooks Baseball, teams hit .371 against that pitch with seven home runs and a slugging percentage of .580.

Against the Washington Nationals in his career, Volquez is 2-3 with a 4.24 ERA in seven starts. In Interleague play last year, he faced the Nats and had a strong outing in a no-decision. He went 7.2 innings, gave up two runs on seven hits, struck out seven, and walked one.

We’ve talked about the starting pitchers, but now let’s talk about some of the hitters to watch going into the game. First, let’s start with the Nats lineup against Volquez.