Can The Phillies Get Back Over .500 This Weekend?
Consider Backing Philadelphia in All of Phillies vs Nationals Lines
The Philadelphia Phillies will take on the Washington Nationals in a divisional series over the weekend. The season hasn’t started as either team planned.
The Phillies and Nationals are both 2-4 to begin the season. However, it’s been more embarrassing for the Phillies. They fell to 2-4 after six home games. Now they’ll hit the road with a losing record and towards the bottom of the current MLB standings.
Meanwhile, the Nationals’ 2-4 record came at home and on the road. Ultimately, the Washington pitching staff has really struggled to begin the year. Things likely won’t get any easier against the Phillies, who have World Series aspirations.
The oddsmakers believe it’ll also be an uphill climb for the Nationals. In the first game of the series, the Phillies are -178 favorites, with the total at nine. Except, the Under 9 is juiced to -125. But that’s mainly due to Aaron Nola being on the mound for the Phillies.
We’ll break down all of the for this three-game weekend series below.
Philadelphia Phillies vs Washington Nationals 
Date, time:
Location: Nationals Park, Washington D.C.
The Phillies Aren’t Worried
Philadelphia has started the season 2-4. However, manager Rob Thompson said he isn’t worried about it and believes things will turn around pretty quickly. He acknowledged that everyone is still locked in.
Veteran hitter Kyle Schwarber said there were still many positive things to take away from the homestand despite being 2-4.
The road could help the Phillies reset, especially starting the trip against a below-average squad like the Nationals.
Nationals Fans Looking Forward to Future
It’s no surprise that Washington has a losing record this year. Almost every baseball analyst believed the Nationals would finish below .500 this season.
That said, the Nationals have a fantastic core of young prospects. We’ve already seen some of Trey Lipscomb, who already hit a homer for the Nationals this year. However, we still await top prospects like James Wood, Dylan Crews, Robert Hassell III, Brady House, and Yohandy Morales.
The future is bright. Just be patient, Nationals fans. Maybe when guys start hitting the MLB injury report, we’ll see some of these faces.
Phillies vs Nationals Lines For Game 1: RL: Phillies -1.5 (-110) ML: Phillies -178, O/U 9 +105/-125.
Game 1
Friday, 6:45 pm ET
Aaron Nola vs. Patrick Corbin
Patrick Corbin hasn’t had much success with the Nationals over the last few years. However, Washington hasn’t given up on the lefty. At this rate, they probably should eventually cut ties. Corbin pitched just 4.1 innings in his first start against the Reds and added two strikeouts and four runs on seven hits.
Corbin only struck out 15.7% of batters last year and wasn’t any better in his first start this season.
He’ll face Aaron Nola of the Phillies, who was surprisingly bad against the Braves on March 30. He pitched just 4.1 innings and allowed 11 hits and six runs with only three strikeouts.
If his career stats share anything, it’s that Nola is way better than that. Last year, Nola struck out 25.2% of batters with only 5.6% of walks. While he allowed a solid amount of extra-base hits, he still limited teams from getting on base at a high rate.
Against righties, Trey Lipscomb has gotten off to a nice start for the Nationals. Joey Gallo also has some power, but he’s struck out 43.3% of the time against righties dating back to last season.
The Phillies crush lefties at the top of the order. Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Nick Castellanos were dominant against lefties last year with high ISO and wOBA numbers. We like the Phillies to win one of the MLB games today.
Game 2
Saturday, 4:05 pm ET
Ranger Suarez vs Jake Irvin
Jake Irvin will make his second start of the year. In his first, he pitched five innings but allowed seven hits and three runs with just four strikeouts and two walks. Irvin allowed a .175 ISO and wOBA of .340 last season and really struggled against lefties.
It was the same story against the Reds in Game 1 of the series. Against 11 lefties, he allowed a .300 ISO and wOBA of .649 with only 18.2% of strikeouts. The Phillies have a lot of lefties that can do damage against Irvin in this game, including Schwarber and Harper.
Irvin will face Ranger Suarez, a left-handed pitcher who allowed only a .138 ISO and wOBA of .314 last year. He struggled a bit against righties but induced 70% of ground balls and struck out 38.9% of batters in his first start of the season.
Meanwhile, the Nationals’ projected lineup has only hit a .140 ISO and wOBA of .331 against lefties since last season. Only Lane Thomas and Riley Adams have eye-popping numbers against lefties.
The Phillies should also win Game 2.
Game 3
Sunday, 1:35 pm ET
Cristopher Sanchez vs MacKenzie Gore
The Nationals have a balanced starting rotation between lefties and righties. The Phillies vs Nationals lines don’t care about that, but it could be beneficial in the long run.
After throwing a lefty in Game 1 and a righty in Game 2, the Nationals will be back with a lefty in the final game of the series.
This time, it’ll be MacKenzie Gore, who struck out six batters in his season debut in 5.1 innings. Still, he finished with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He wasn’t terrific. But his start was better than the other guys in the Washington rotation. He held Pittsburgh to a .100 ISO and wOBA of .321. He also allowed just 6.7% of fly balls. Therefore, if Gore continues to pitch like that, he’ll start to see better stats in the box score.
If there’s any game where the Nationals can win, it’s this one. Cristopher Sanchez will man the mound for the Phillies after striking out 40% of batters faced. However, he still allowed a .176 ISO and wOBA of .347. Gore has way more potential than Sanchez does. He’ll need the Nationals lineup to score a few runs, which we think they’ll do.
Phillies vs Nationals Lines
For the best MLB bets today, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
