Philadelphia Phillies vs Washington Nationals Prediction, 8/27/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Philadelphia Phillies vs Washington Nationals

Date: Thursday, August 27, 2020

Location: Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

TV: FOX

Odds/Point Spread: Phillies (+179) Nationals (-195)

Nationals Park is the venue where Juan Soto and the Washington Nationals (11-16, 5th in NL East) will play the Philadelphia Phillies (11-14, 3rd in NL East) on Thursday. The Phillies open this matchup at +179 while the Nationals are coming in at -195. The total opens at 9. The starting pitchers will be Spencer Howard and Max Scherzer.

Key Philadelphia Phillies Injuries

8/25/2020 Jose Alvarez RP Groin Expected to be out until at least Sep 25
8/23/2020 Ranger Suarez RP Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 30
8/22/2020 Jay Bruce LF Quadriceps Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
8/11/2020 David Robertson RP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 10
7/25/2020 Seranthony Dominguez RP Elbow Out for the season

Key Washington Nationals Injuries

8/24/2020 Seth Romero RP Hand Out for the season
8/22/2020 Stephen Strasburg SP Hand Out for the season
8/18/2020 Sam Freeman RP Elbow Out for the season
8/18/2020 Starlin Castro 2B Wrist Out for the season
8/13/2020 Roenis Elias RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 15
6/29/2020 Adrian Sanchez 3B Achilles Out for the season

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Phillies have a 11-14 overall record this season. Howard has pitched in 11 innings and has accounted for 11 punchouts. His ERA is 6.43 (8 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 2.143. He has conceded 19 hits (15.3 hits per nine innings) and has had 5 free passes. Howard (0-1 win-loss record) holds a FIP of 7.22 and he has gone up against 59 batters. The bullpen has an earned run average of 7.71 and they have given up 121 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .310 against the bullpen and they've struck out 84 hitters and walked 34 batters. As a team, Philadelphia allows 10.6 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.4 batters per nine innings. They are 27th in the league in team earned run average at 5.38. The Phillies pitchers collectively have given up 247 base hits and 125 earned runs. They have allowed 38 home runs this season, ranking them 16th in the league. Philadelphia as a pitching staff has walked 74 batters and struck out 219. They have walked 3.2 men per 9 innings while striking out 9.4 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.54 and their FIP as a unit is 4.60.

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Hitting Statistics

As a team Philadelphia is hitting .261, good for 4th in the league. The Phillies hold a .451 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .344, which is good for 3rd in baseball. They rank 10th in MLB with 8.6 hits per game. J.T. Realmuto is hitting .289 with an on-base percentage of .340. He has 26 hits this season in 90 at bats with 25 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .622 and an OPS+ of 152. Didi Gregorius is hitting .287 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .347. He has totaled 25 hits and he has driven in 16 men in 87 at bats. His OPS+ is 118 while his slugging percentage is at .471. The Phillies have 214 hits, including 38 doubles and 36 home runs. Philadelphia has walked 95 times so far this season and they have struck out 190 times as a unit. They have left 176 men on base and have a team OPS of .796. They score 5.44 runs per contest and have scored a total of 136 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

So far in his MLB career, Scherzer has allowed 1,914 hits while he has accumulated 2,736 strikeouts in 2,321 innings pitched. He has given up a total of 828 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.096 and being the owner of a FIP of 3.2. His SO/W ratio is 4.34 and he has gone up against 9,415 batters so far in his career. Scherzer (172-90 record in his career) has a 3.21 earned run average and has allowed 7.4 hits per 9 innings. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.43 and they have given up 100 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .217 against the Nationals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 109 batters and walked 49 opposing hitters. As a team, Washington allows 9.8 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.8 batters per nine innings. They are 23rd in the league in team earned run average at 5.04. The Nationals pitchers as a team have surrendered 253 base knocks and 130 earned runs this season. They have given up 39 home runs this year, which ranks 13th in Major League Baseball. Washington as a staff has walked 93 hitters and struck out 226 batters. They give up a walk 3.6 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.8 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.49 while their FIP as a staff is 4.70.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .263, good for 3rd in the league. The Nationals hold a .437 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .331, which is good for 8th in baseball. They rank 8th in MLB with 8.7 hits per contest. Juan Soto comes into this matchup batting .382 with an OBP of .475. He has 26 hits this year along with 17 RBI in 68 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .779 with an OPS+ of 228. Asdrubal Cabrera is hitting .269 this season and he has an OBP of .337. He has collected 25 hits in 93 at bats while driving in 17 runs. He has an OPS+ of 121 and a slugging percentage of .505. The Nationals as a unit have 234 base hits, including 43 doubles and 34 homers. Washington has walked 81 times this year and they have struck out on 197 occasions. They have had 173 men left on base and have an OPS of .768. They have scored 4.78 runs per game and totaled 129 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Phillies/Nationals MLB game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take the Nationals (-195)

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