Series Preview: Washington Nationals

Tonight we start off the second half of the season with a three-game set versus the Washington Nationals. Tonight’s game is the highlight for reasons that you will see quite shortly.

Washington Nationals (39-50) vs. Florida Marlins, July 16-18, Games 89-91

NL East Standings

Tm	W	L	Win%	GB
ATL	53	36	.596	—
NYM	48	41	.539	5.0
PHI	47	41	.534	5.5
FLA	42	46	.477	10.5
WSN	39	50	.438	14.0

Stadium: Sun Life Stadium
Five-year Run PF*: 0.99
Five-year HR PF*: 0.97
Stadium Dimensions:
Left Field: 330 ft.
Left-Center: 361
Center Field: 404
Right-Center: 361
Right Field: 345

*Five-year regressed park factors provided by Patriot here

Projected Pitching Matchups

July 16: Ricky Nolasco vs. Stephen Strasburg
July 17: Josh Johnson vs. Livan Hernandez
July 18: Alejandro Sanabia vs. Craig Stammen

ZiPS In-Season Projections

FIP	Proj. FIP	Win%	Marlins	Date	Nationals	Win%	Proj. FIP	FIP
4.39	3.78	.542	Nolasco	July 16	Strasburg	.612	3.22	1.94
2.31	2.87	.658	Johnson	July 17	Hernandez	.439	4.71	4.03
—	—	—	Sanabia	July 17	Stammen	.436	4.74	4.44

Projected Lineup

Lineup	Player	Current wOBA	Proj. wOBA v. RHP	Proj. wOBA v. LHP
1	Chris Coghlan	.323	.345	.319
2	Gaby Sanchez	.367	.344	.368
3	Hanley Ramirez	.378	.399	.415
4	Jorge Cantu	.320	.327	.345
5	Dan Uggla	.375	.357	.369
6	Cody Ross	.334	.330	.364
7	Mike Stanton	.314	—	—
8	Ronny Paulino	.313	.302	.337

Notes

– Much of tonight’s notes I will allow The Nats Blog to handle. I did an Q&A with Will from The Nats Blog, which you can check out here.

– I will say this much: I am excited to see Stephen Strasburg tonight. I wish the Marlins had thrown out Josh Johnson to face him, but with JJ pitching in the All-Star Game on Tuesday, that was more or less not going to happen. Nevertheless, we’re sending Ricky Nolasco, our #2 starter and a favorite of mine, so let’s see if we can’t duel Strasburg tit for ridiculous pitching tat.

Bold Prediction: Marlins win two of three games.

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