Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
What a way to start a weekend series against your closest geographical rival with your best pitcher going against their best pitcher. We can put names to those nouns — the Washington Nationals have Max Scherzer going up against the Phillies’ best pitcher in Zack Wheeler. Both teams are under .500 and just 2 ½ games separated in the standings.
With no slowdown in articles written about tearing the Nats apart in a sell-off, the Nats are just 6.0 games from 1st place and 109 games to play in the season that includes tonight’s game. You have to wonder if general manager Mike Rizzo’s phone is ringing with inquiries on trades. Blow him away with an offer, and maybe he will say yes. Otherwise, there’s not much to talk about but the game tonight.
It looks like the Nationals will be sellers at the trade deadline once again.
With their best asset being ace Max Scherzer, @WillLaws takes a look at the best destinations for the 36-year-old righty https://t.co/fLpJzYGyZw
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 4, 2021
The Nats will see how their leftfielder, Kyle Schwarber feels today in the pre-game before issuing a lineup today. Schwarber hurt his knee on Wednesday after he dove for a ball in the outfield.
Here are your Zack Wheeler (4-2, 2.52 ERA) stats:
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS ▼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Zimmerman | 36 | 33 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 6 | .303 | .361 | .515 | .876 |
| Trea Turner | 34 | 31 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | .290 | .333 | .419 | .753 |
| Victor Robles | 17 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .313 | .353 | .375 | .728 |
| Juan Soto | 31 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 9 | .208 | .387 | .333 | .720 |
| Andrew Stevenson | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .286 | .286 | .429 | .714 |
| Starlin Castro | 31 | 31 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | .323 | .323 | .355 | .677 |
| Josh Bell | 9 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Kyle Schwarber | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .200 | .429 | .200 | .629 |
| Josh Harrison | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .167 | .167 | .333 | .500 |
| Yan Gomes | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .167 | .286 | .167 | .452 |
| Max Scherzer | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .200 | .200 | .200 | .400 |
| Alex Avila | 11 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | .091 | .091 | .273 | .364 |
| Jordy Mercer | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Yadiel Hernández | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 230 | 211 | 52 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 16 | 55 | .246 | .303 | .341 | .644 |
Obviously Ryan Zimmerman has the best career numbers against Wheeler, but Bell has done decent more recently against Wheeler. We will see how manager Dave Martinez pencils up his lineup today.
Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Stadium: Citizen’s Bank Ballpark, Philadephia, Pennsylvania
1st Pitch: 7:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN, NBC Sports Philadelphia, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® ( Streaming Internet 869)
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
1. Trea Turner SS
2. Josh Harrison 2B
3. Juan Soto RF
4. Josh Bell 1B
5. Kyle Schwarber LF
6. Starlin Castro 3B
7. Alex Avila C
8. Victor Robles CF
9. Max Scherzer RHP
