Philadelphia Phillies: Washington Nationals Series Preview

Starting tonight, the Philadelphia Phillies will be heading to Washington for a three-game series with the Nationals.

This will be their second series with the Nats after losing the series during April 15-17th 2-1. The Nationals are currently leading the NL East at 14-4 while the Philadelphia Phillies are sitting in third place at 9-10 (not a bad record at this point of the season).

With the surprising performance of the Philadelphia Phillies pitching staff, this will be a series that features some excellent pitching matchups.

• Game One: Vincent Velasquez vs Max Scherzer
• Game Two: Jeremy Hellickson vs Gio Gonzalez
• Game Three: Aaron Nola vs Tanner Roark

Looking at these matchups there will be A+ competition from each team on the hill each night which could make runs hard to come by (hopefully harder for the Nationals than the last series between these two teams). The game to watch based on pure talent is tonight’s matchup between Velasquez and Scherzer.

The game to watch based on pure talent is tonight’s matchup between Velasquez and Scherzer. After Velasquez’s 16 K shutout performance he began drawing comparisons to Scherzer (it’s a little early for that) but it will be fun to watch the two go head to head.

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Let’s get to the storylines.

Can anyone stop Bryce Harper?

It’s always best to start with the obvious and as much as it pains me to write it, Bryce Harper is good, really good. He had a career year last year and so far it looks like this year could surpass last year. Harper has nine home runs and 23 RBI so far. He also has a .855 slugging percentage so far which shows how he’s just tearing the cover off the ball this season. Every time Harper steps to the plate he has the potential to do something special and the Philadelphia Phillies need to try to thwart him during this series if they have any hope to win.

Speaking of stopping Harper, can anyone stop the Nationals?

They’ve flown a little under the radar while doing it but the Nationals have quietly been one of the best teams in the National League. Adding Dusty Baker as their manager is already paying dividends and they look like geniuses for signing Daniel Murphy. The Philadelphia Phillies will be hard pressed to stop this team but it will begin with starting pitching.

The pitching staff will need to be almost perfect.

With all the plaudits being given to the Nationals, the Philadelphia Phillies have been earning some this year too, for their rotation. The rotation ERA is at 3.82 which is a recent jump due to a few ineffective starts. The Phillies starters can’t afford slip ups against this potent lineup and expect to win the series.

The bullpen has been bad but, Hector Neris has been criminally underrated.

As a whole, the bullpen has been pretty bad for the Philadelphia Phillies and if you were asked who the Phillies best relief pitcher has been this season, you’d probably say Jeanmar Gomez. While that’s an admirable choice it wouldn’t be the correct one. This season Hector Neris has been the best pitcher in the pen with an ERA of  .82. Neris also has 18 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched making him almost unhittable. Neris is going to factor into this series because he will be one of the first men out of the bullpen during a high-pressure situation. He will be counted on when it comes to putting out a Nationals rally in the late innings and the Phillies will need him to succeed.

If this series was based on rotation strength the Philadelphia Phillies would have a solid chance. But when it comes to lineups that’s where the Phillies get blown out of the water.

These lineups are based on the most frequently used combinations by each team. When compared side by side it’s easy to see that the Nationals have the clear advantage when it comes to offensive firepower. If the games turn into slugfests they immediately favor the Nationals while the Phillies would like to hold it under four runs to have a shot.

Next: Is Pete Mackanin on to Something?

It doesn’t look great for the Fightin Phils in this one. It looks like it will go the way of the last series vs the Nationals, 2-1 in the Nationals favor, and any other result would be a pleasant surprise. Hopefully, the Philadelphia Phillies can surprise us in this one and stomp the Nats!