Washington Nationals: Looking back at regular season against Cubs

Pitching Matchups a lot different

Neither team has revealed their pitching matchups for the NLDS yet, but they should be a little more entertaining than some of the games we saw during the regular season.

Now, the matchups weren’t all bad because the Nats top four starters all pitched at least one game and the Cubs had Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta, and Jon Lester each pitch once. But, you had some names like Eddie Butler and John Lackey (Cubs) and Erick Fedde and Edwin Jackson (Nationals) who won’t be pitching in the NLDS as a starter.

Lester did get two starts against the Nats and got a no-decision in each game. With that being said, he only gave up four runs in 12.2 innings. The left-hander should get Game 1 or Game 2. Back on August 6, he threw 112 pitches, which was his third highest total this season.

While no Washington Nationals pitchers started against the Cubs more than once, keep this stat in mind. None of the top four Nats starters gave up more than two earned runs in any game. This includes Strasburg striking out 13 and Roark’s quality start at Wrigley on August 4 (where he might pitch a potential Game 4).

Of course, one pitcher who didn’t get to throw in any of these games is Cubs starter Jose Quintana. Quintana gave up nine earned runs over his final five starts of the season, so he is coming into the postseason on a great note. Plus, the Nats don’t have much familiarity with him from his time in the American League.