Through the first week and a half of the 2019 MLB season, Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies have a +20 run differential and a 5-1 record at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies and Nationals split two games a week ago in D.C. with the Phils winning 8-2 and the Nats winning 9-8. The Phillies are paying -135 at home today with the road dogs at +125. The total opened at 9.
Nationals vs Phillies Game Center
Standout Stats
- Anibal Sanchez allowed four earned runs on four hits in four innings on April 3 vs the Phillies. Philadelphia’s roster has a career .255 average in 94 at-bats vs the 35-year-old righty.
- Vince Velasquez has pitched just one inning this season. He struck out two batters in one inning vs the Nationals on April 2. The Nats roster has a career 18 hits vs Velasquez with Ryan Zimmerman and Howie Kendrick combining for nine of them.
- The Nationals and Phillies are No. 2 and No. 3 in fly ball percentage at 40.9 and 39.6 percent respectively. Philadelphia is hitting 1.5 home runs per game while Washington is hitting 1.75, meaning just over 15 percent of each team’s fly balls are flying over the fence.
- The Phillies have struck out just 66 times in their first 10 games, the second-fewest in the National League. By comparison, Washington leads the NL in strikeout percentage, with batters whiffing 28.6 percent of the time.
- Washington’s pitching staff has a 6.08 ERA. That’s sixth-worst in the majors and No. 13 in the NL – only Arizona and the Cubs are worse in the senior circuit. This is inflated by the bullpen’s MLB-worst 10.80 ERA and .365 opponents’ batting average.
- The total has gone OVER in six of the Nationals’ last seven games. The total has also gone OVER in each of Vince Velasquez’ last four starts.
- Despite terrible overall numbers, the Nationals staff has the No. 2 F5 ERA at 2.92. Philadelphia is scoring an average of 2.1 runs in the first five innings of its games.
My Best Bet for Nationals vs Phillies
Philadelphia -1.5 (+140)
The Phillies have been on an offensive tear to start the season while also getting top-five NL pitching performances. Additionally, Washington’s bullpen got chewed up pretty good over the weekend vs the Mets for a 15.43 ERA, including using five guys yesterday in a 12-9 win.
The total has gone OVER in six of the Nationals’ last seven games.away Philadelphia is striking out just 6.6 times per game (No. 2 in the NL).home Washington’s bullpen has an MLB-worst 10.80 ERA.
