The Washington Nationals appears to have figured things out since the All-Star game, but now they face a big test in the division rival Atlanta Braves.
In their series against the Cincinnati Reds, the Washington Nationals got the job done with a 3-1 series win. They’ll likely need the same against the division foe Atlanta Braves this week.
To help preview the series, host Blake Finney is joined by contributor Ross Shinberg on the DoDCast. You can check out the episode here.
On this edition of the DoDCast, they look at the following:
- The impressive series victory over the Reds
- Was the acquisition of Greg Holland a shrewd one?
- Can the Nats rotation keep up its recent success
- Which Braves should we watch out for
- Preview and predict each pitching matchup of the series
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The Braves young superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. has recently been bumped to the leadoff spot with great effect for Atlanta. Atop the order, he’s hitting .327 with four homers, 12 runs, four steals and a stellar 1.058 OPS. He’s going to be circled numerous times on the lineup card.
Nats superstar Bryce Harper has been on some kind of tear since the All-Star game. He sports a .367 batting average, a 1.157 OPS to go along three homers and 14 RBIs. He’s going the other way a lot more since the break, allowing him to rack up the hits and start to bring that disastrous batting average back up to where it should be.
The Nationals will call upon Jefry Rodriguez to start the first game of the doubleheader on Tuesday. Overall, he’s struggled in the major leagues so far in 2018, but he does at least have an impressive outing against the Braves in the books.
On June 3rd, he pitched 4.2 innings allowing just four hits, no runs and struck out four. He’ll need another outing like that to give the Nats a good chance at a series win.
Want to hear more about the Washington Nationals on our DoDCast? You can subscribe to us on iTunes or Google Play and have episodes automatically downloaded for you. You can also listen to us on other podcast platforms such as Stitcher and Spreaker.