The Washington Nationals will hit the road for only the second time so far in 2025, as through the team's first 12 games, 9 of them have been played at home in Nationals Park. Their previous road series, a 3-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays, was pretty ugly, with the Nationals getting swept by the team north of the border.
Luckily for the Nationals, they were able to turn things around on their homestand, finishing 4-2 against a pair of teams who figure to be in contention for the World Series this season. Now, they will head down to South Beach, where they will take on the Miami Marlins, who weirdly enough have had the Nationals' number as of recent. The series in Miami will begin a 10-day road trip for the Nationals, who will play in games every day for the next week and a half.
The Marlins come into the series with a 6-6 record, 1 game better than the 5-7 mark of the Nationals, but as usual, are still mired in their never-ending rebuild. They have been hit with a few injuries already either in spring training or early on in the regular season, and are missing key contributors like lefty starter Ryan Weathers, third baseman Connor Norby, and outfielder Jesús Sánchez, who has had some success against the Nationals in the past.
Miami is led by a combination of former prospects from other organizations, such as Xavier Edwards, Kyle Stowers, and Otto Lopez. They got their season off to a very interesting start, as they swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in their opening series, and won all 3 games of the opening weekend in walk-off fashion.
As for the pitching matchups, on Friday, the Nationals will start lefty Mitchell Parker, who is 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA against righty Edward Cabrera, who is making his 1st appearance of the 2025 season. Both teams will pitch their aces over the weekend, as Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, who is 1-0 with a 3.72 ERA in 2 starts, and is back this year after missing all of 2024, against Trevor Williams of the Nationals, who is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in 2 starts. The Nationals will then send their ace, lefty MacKenzie Gore, who is 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA, against righty Cal Quantrill, who is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA in his 2 starts.
Friday: LHP Parker @ RHP Cabrera
Saturday: RHP Williams @ RHP Alcantara
Sunday: LHP Gore @ RHP Quantrill
I am looking forward to seeing how the Nationals perform against Alcantara on Saturday, as the team was luckily able to avoid the Dodgers' big-name starters in their last series. Being able to see how legit the recent offensive surge is against a premium pitcher will be a good test for this lineup. The matchups should also help the Nationals, who will face 3 righties in this series.
MacKenzie Gore will look to continue his red-hot start to the season on Sunday, and he enters the weekend tied for the MLB lead in strikeouts with 3 other great starters in Logan Gilbert of Seattle, and Jesus Luzardo and Zach Wheeler of Philadelphia.
How many games do you think the Nationals will win in Miami this weekend? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.