Washington Nationals: 5 to watch in visit to San Francisco

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The Washington Nationals begin a nine game West Coast trip today against the San Francisco Giants. Here are our five players to watch in this series

Thanks to great pitching performances by Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg this past weekend, the Washington Nationals (30-19) were able to take two of three from the San Diego Padres to end their homestand with a 4-2 record. Scherzer and Strasburg combined to strike out 28 Padres in 15.2 innings.

On offense, the Nats had their issues with men in scoring position as they went 3-for-28 in the entire series. Despite those struggles in those situations, Michael Taylor had a pair of home runs while driving in four runs and Bryce Harper had a mammoth home run on Friday.

Now, the Nats are out west as they begin a nine game road trip today. First up on this road trip is the San Francisco Giants (22-30). Bruce Bochy’s team comes into this series having lost five of their last eight games and they are 11 games behind the Rockies in the NL West.

It’s been a rough month of May for the Giants offense. They have scored 92 runs, which are the second fewest of any team in baseball. San Francisco has also struggled to hit home runs this year. While Brandon Belt leads the team with ten, the team as a whole has the second fewest in the league (42)

When you look at the starting rotation, it’s clear San Francisco misses Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner has been out since April 19 after he suffered an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder during a dirt bike accident. Without him, only one pitcher on the staff has more than three wins (Johnny Cueto has five).

Of course, the Nats will see their closer from the second half last year in the opposing dugout as Mark Melancon is closing games for the Giants. He has ten saves in 12 chances this season. One other reliever to watch is Hunter Strickland, who has a 1.06 ERA in 20 outings this year.

Before we look at the players to watch, here are the pitching matchups for this series:

Today: Tanner Roark (4-2, 4.32 ERA) vs. Matt Moore (2-5, 5.28) – 4:05 p.m ET, broadcast on MASN2/ESPN

Tomorrow: Gio Gonzalez (3-1, 2.90) vs. Jeff Samardzija (1-6, 4.50) – 10:15 p.m, MASN2/ESPN

Wednesday: Max Scherzer (5-3, 2.77) vs. Matt Cain (3-3, 4.45) – 10:15 p.m, MASN2

Let’s start our five players to watch with a look at a third baseman who hasn’t performed the best away from home:

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Anthony Rendon

After a rough road trip in Pittsburgh and Atlanta, Rendon bounced back during this recent homestand. In six games against the Mariners and Padres, the third baseman went 8-for-19 with four home runs and nine RBI’s. This included a five RBI game against the Mariners on Tuesday.

Rendon has been one of the team’s best hitters this month. In 24 games, he leads the team in RBI’s (17), is tied for the team lead in home runs with Bryce Harper (six), and is second on the team in batting average (.295),

It is early in the season, but the home/road splits are something to consider especially heading into a nine game road trip. On the road this year, Rendon has just seven RBI’s and a .263 average. Meanwhile, he is hitting .318 at home with seven of his nine home runs.

Heading into today’s game, Rendon has never faced Moore in his career, but he is 9-for-22 with three home runs this year against left-handed pitchers. As for the other two games in the series, the third baseman doesn’t have a good track record. He’s a combined 2-for-13 against Samardzija and Cain (both hits against Samardzija).

When Rendon is clicking on all cylinders, it only adds to the depth of the Nats lineup because he cannot only drive the ball out of the ballpark, but he can also work a walk. His 18 walks are the most on the team and the fifth most in the NL this month.

As long as he keeps making pitchers work, it’s only a matter of time before Rendon’s road splits start to catch up to his home splits.

Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports /

Buster Posey

When you think about the face of the San Francisco Giants, Buster Posey is probably the first name that comes to mind. Posey has been one of the best hitters on the Giants this season as he leads the team in batting average (.333) and on-base percentage (.432).

Posey is hitting over .300 this year, but he comes into this series on a little bit of a slump. Over his last seven games, the 30-year-old catcher is 3-for-22 with five walks. At least when he’s struggling, he’s able to work a walk (21 walks on the season).

Despite his slump, Posey is still having a good month at the plate. In 77 at-bats, he is hitting .325 with six home runs and eight RBI’s. But, every home run he’s hit this year has been a solo shot.

So, if the Nats pitchers do make a mistake to Posey in this series, they need to make sure that the mistake only counts for one run by keeping the top of the San Francisco order off the bases.

If you look at Posey’s track record against the Washington Nationals, he did go 8-for-23 (.348) with two RBI’s against them last year. Plus, he has a home run against Tanner Roark and Gio Gonzalez in his career. Meanwhile, he’s 0-for-2 against Scherzer.

While Posey has only had 46 at-bats this year at home, he is hitting .391 and has a .472 on-base percentage in those games. Eventually, Posey is going to break out of his slump, so he will be a key figure in this series this week. If he is, they just need to make sure its only one run he accounts for.

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Max Scherzer

After a rough outing in Atlanta, Scherzer calmed some of the concerns surrounding him on Friday night against the Padres. The Nats ace went 8.2 innings, gave up one run on five hits, struck out 13, and walked two on 108 pitches in a 5-1 win.

Scherzer has thrown 100 or more pitches in five straight games and has given up a total of ten earned runs during that stretch. The home runs continue to be an issue as he’s given up one in six of his last seven outings, but he has found a way to still be one of the elite starters in the game.

Heading into AT&T Park on Wednesday night, the one thing that might help Scherzer is that he will pitch in a ballpark where it is tough to hit home runs. Also, he has some good numbers on the road this year. In five road starts, he is 3-1 with a 2.60 ERA and opponents are hitting .161 against him.

Against the Giants last year, Scherzer won his lone starts as he gave up one run on five hits along with six strikeouts over seven innings. However, he has a 5.52 ERA in six career starts vs. San Francisco and a 4.80 ERA in three starts at AT&T Park. Denard Span is 6-for-22 against him with a home run and four RBI’s.

Scherzer will go up against Matt Cain in the series finale. Cain gave up only one run over seven innings in his last start against the Braves and still took the loss. Despite having a 4.45 ERA, he has given up two runs or fewer in seven of his ten starts this year. If Cain has that kind of outing Wednesday, the fans could be in for a pitcher’s duel.

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Jeff Samardzija

Samardzija has been somewhat of a disappointment for the $90 million that the Giants gave him before the 2016 season. He had a rough month of April where he went 0-4 in five starts with a 6.35 ERA.

This month, the 32-year-old right-hander has been much better. In his last five starts, Samardzija is 1-2 with a 2.95 ERA. He has pitched into the seventh inning or later in every game and has shown great control of pitches.

One of the things Samardzija has done well this month is that he has picked up strikeouts in bunches. His 44 K’s are tied with Zack Greinke for second in the National League and five behind Max Scherzer for the team lead. In addition to those 44 K’s, he has only walked one batter.

When Samardzija needs a strikeout, he is going to go to his slider. This year, teams are hitting .173 against that pitch with one extra-base hit and 34 strikeouts according to Brooks Baseball.

In his career against the Nats, Samardzija is 2-5 with a 3.83 ERA in 14 appearances (seven starts). Last year, the Nats offense roughed him up as he gave up nine runs over the course of 13 innings. Jayson Werth and Daniel Murphy each have seven hits with a home run against him in their respective careers.

Tomorrow night, Samardzija will go up against Gio Gonzalez, who has been the exact opposite of Samardzija in terms of walks. Gonzalez has three or more walks in eight straight games and his 21 walks this month are more than any pitcher in the NL.

Mark Melancon

When the Giants signed Melancon this winter, they thought they had the answer to their bullpen problems. Instead, Melancon has had to spend time on the disabled list this season due to a forearm strain. He was on the DL from May 3-May 19.

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Melancon’s season didn’t start off great either when you consider he blew the save in the season opener against the Diamondbacks. But, the 32-year-old right-hander has pitched better in May as he’s given up just one run in five games. But, opponents are hitting .316 and right-handers are 12-for-27 against him.

As Washington Nationals fans know from last season, Melancon doesn’t have the velocity to have high strikeout totals out of the bullpen. He has 12 K’s in 15 games this season and he’s part of a bullpen that has the second fewest strikeouts in the NL with 135. (Nats have the fewest – 124).

If the Giants decide to be sellers at the trade deadline, Melancon is a difficult contract to trade because he has opt-outs in the final two years of his deal. While it was a good contract at the time, it’s tough to pay a closer over $60 million on a team that is near the bottom of the division.

One hitter to watch if the Nats need a comeback against Melancon in this series is going to be Daniel Murphy. Murphy is 4-for-5 against the closer and that includes a pinch-hit home run he had against him last year when Melancon was in Pittsburgh.

While the Nats are watching Melancon from the other side, Koda Glover has shown dominance in the ninth inning with his nasty slider and his ability to get the strikeouts that the bullpen desperately needs. It will be fun to watch the battle of the Nats present closer and the Nats past closer.

Next: Strasburg's epic Saturday

We want to hear from you! Who are the players you are watching in this week’s series in San Francisco? Send us your thoughts in the comments section.

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