Washington Nationals: Dates to know for the 2018 season
By Brian Foley
April 20-22: First premier series (at Los Angeles Dodgers)
Later in the month, the Nationals will head out to Chavez Ravine for a three-gamer with the Dodgers. Washington and L.A. won their divisions by a combined 31 games last year and have averaged 92 and 93 wins over the past 6 seasons, respectively.
Despite their impressive regular season runs, both franchises have undergone their fair share of playoff struggles. The Dodgers finally climbed the NLCS mountain last season and reached the World Series, but established a new hump in their seven-game loss to Houston. The Nationals once again collapsed in the NLDS, and are yet to win a playoff series since moving to D.C. With their top players likely hitting free agency this winter (Clayton Kershaw and Harper), 2018 feels like a make or break year for both clubs.
May 4-6: Jake Arrieta matchup? (at Philadelphia)
Washington’s first weekend series in May brings a potential matchup with the Phillies new ace, Jake Arrieta. Philadelphia recently inked Arrieta to a lucrative three-year deal, even though the 32-year-old righty has taken a couple steps back since his 2015 Cy Young campaign.
Arrieta has a 5.48 ERA in 9 regular season starts against the Nationals, and was pulled after 4 innings in a Washington win in Game 4 of the 2017 NLDS.
May 28-30: Battle of the Beltway (at Baltimore)
The Nats head north to Charm City in late May for the first of two series against the Orioles this year. On top of the local rivalry, this game also features two of the biggest pending free agents in baseball: Harper and Manny Machado. The two superstars could even end up on the same team if the Yankees really feel like shelling out some cash this offseason (we’ll get to that soon).
Back to 2018: Baltimore leads the Battle of the Beltway all-time series 38-26. Washington will look to put a dent in that deficit this summer.