Washington will begin its season with a three home tilt against the Miami Marlins. While the Marlins have some solid young players, the Nationals are the superior team and hope to come away with a series victory to start the season off hot.
Miami will need to receive some unexpected pitching performances from its starters in order to have a chance in a couple of these matchups. It’s a tough draw right out of the gate.
This series will be contested from Monday, April 3, 2017 through Thursday, April 6, 2017 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.. Thursday’s clash is being shown live on MLB Network.
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Pitching Matchups
The Nationals have a fantastic pitching staff. They will send out Stephen Strasburg on Opening Day, and he will be opposed by Miami’s Edinson Volquez. Strasburg has electric stuff and went 15-4 with a 3.60 ERA a season ago. He always has huge strikeout numbers, and if he can keep the ball in the park he should be able to have success. Volquez went 10-11 with a 5.37 ERA a season ago and needs to pitch better than that for his team to have a chance.
The Marlins will send out Dan Straily in the second game on Wednesday. The Nationals haven’t officially announced their rotation but Tanner Roark figures to be the second starting pitcher. Max Scherzer, who dealt with a small finger injury late in Spring Training, is on track to pitch in the series finale against Miami’s Tom Koehler.
Scherzer is one of the best pitcher in the major leagues, so if he is able to throw in that one, the Nationals will be heavy favorites. Washington has the superior pitching and will aim to ride it to some wins.
Missing Jose Fernandez
It will be weird for the Marlins to have Opening Day without Jose Fernandez on the mound. The super talented right-hander was a fixture atop Miami’s rotation, but he and two friends were tragically killed in a boating accident in Miami near the end of last season.
The Marlins have had some time to cope with the loss, but it’s not going to be an easy thing to get past any time soon. Fernandez had a career ERA of 2.58 and was a strikeout machine. He was only 23 years old when he died.
Miami will have heavy hearts throughout the season thinking about their close friend.
Which Harper Will Show Up?
The most talented player on the field will be Bryce Harper -- and that’s with Strasburg, Scherzer, Giancarlo Stanton and Trea Turner all in the mix. Harper is a cut above the rest of the league, except for Mike Trout, and hopes to prove that once again in 2017. He went through a down season last year, hitting only .243 with 24 homers and 86 RBIs on the season. In 2015, Harper put it all together to the tune of a .330 average, 42 homers and 99 RBIs.
He is still only entering his age 24 season and has all the talent in the world. Harper will aim to get off to a quick start and has a good matchup against some suspect Marlins pitching.
The Nationals are clearly the better team, get to play at home and are expected to throw both Strasburg and Scherzer in this one. That all amounts to what should result in at least two victories in the three-game tilt against Miami.
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