Milwaukee Brewers vs. Washington Nationals Preview
The Brewers will enter Monday on a modest three-game losing streak after they were swept over the weekend by the best team in baseball, the Atlanta Braves.
The losing streak has moved the Brewers out of first place in the NL Central, as they now trail the Cincinnati Reds by half a game.
The Brewers' pitching was what let them down, as they allowed an average of 9.6 runs per game in the three-game series.
With that being said, this pitching staff is much better than those numbers indicate, and they will attempt to return to form vs this Nationals lineup tonight.
From an offensive perspective, Milwaukee will have to figure things out sooner than later if they want to go on a playoff run, as they rank 24th in baseball in runs per game (4.16).
Christian Yelich is not somebody that the Brewers can blame for the cold stretch. Yelich has been swinging a red-hot bat as of late, recording at least one hit in nine of his last 10p games, boosting his batting average up to .286 on the season.
Willy Adames is one of the stars of this Brewers lineup but has struggled this season, batting just .202 - a career-worst mark.
Rowdy Tellez, the best power source that the Brewers have from the left side of their lineup, will miss some time, which was a big reason that the Brewers traded for Carlos Santana.
Santana, who was added to the Brewers roster over the weekend, is a veteran who will look to provide some power the Brewers desperately need in their lineup.
He wasted no time making an impact, as he blasted a home run yesterday.
Sal Frelick, who is seen as one of the Brewers' top prospects, has come up and immediately impacted this Brewers team, batting .304 in 23 at-bats.
Pitching has been the strength of this Brewers team, as Milwaukee ranks 13th in baseball in team ERA (4.08). The Brewers will send their ace to the bump today in the form of Corbin Burnes.
The Nationals will begin play with the second-worst record in the National League (44-62). This is no surprise, as the Nationals were slated to be one of the worst teams in baseball.
Washington won a world series in 2019, but things have gone downhill since then, having moved on from the majority of that world series roster in a short span.
Despite the disappointing season, Lane Thomas has been the star of this Nationals lineup. Thomas leads the team in batting average (.285) as well as RBIs (55).
As for the home run crown, that belongs to Jeimer Candelario, who leads the Nationals in home runs with 16. Candelario is a hot name to be traded at the deadline this week.
CJ Abrams is one of the young prospects that the Nationals received in the Juan Soto trade, batting .256 on the campaign and leads the team in stolen bases (24).
Josiah Gray and Mackenzie Gore are two young pitchers that the Nationals organization is high on and both of whom were acquired via trade.
Gray was acquired from the Dodgers in the Trea Turner trade, while Gore was added in the Soto deal.
Gray leads the team in ERA (3.27) as well as batting average against (.252), while Gore leads the Nationals in strikeouts (124) and strikeouts per nine (10.5).
Outside of Gray and Gore, it has been a rough go of things for the Nationals rotation. Washington ranks 27th in baseball in team ERA (4.95).
Betting Pick: Milwaukee Brewers -1 (-175, DraftKings)
This should be the perfect get-right spot for the Brewers. They ran into the best team in baseball and struggled over the weekend, but now they got the opportunity to return to form, facing one of the worst teams in baseball.
Milwaukee will send their ace Corbin Burnes to the mound tonight, who has been the best arm for the Brewers all season long, posting an ERA of 3.46.
Burnes has thrown the baseball much better on the road as he has an ERA of 3.00 on the road compared to 4.01 at home.
He has also thrown well vs. this Nationals lineup, as the Nats are hitting just .241 in 29 at-bats vs the righty.
Jake Irvin will get the ball for the Nationals tonight. Irvin has struggled this season as he enters play representing an ERA of 4.96.
Irvin has pitched slightly worse in Washington, with an ERA of 4.97 at home, and has not faced one player in the Brewers lineup in his short career, which could favor the batters.
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