Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
Winning series is the goal, and winning the first game of a series is part of manager Dave Martinez‘s mantra of going 1-0 everyday. This three game series against the St. Louis Cardinals will be the last time the Washington Nationals will face them this season.
The Nats will face Jack Flaherty once again as he gets the start for the Cardinals. The Nats will counter with Joe Ross who has arguably been the Nats best pitcher this season. The last time Ross pitched in Nats Park was Game 5 of the World Series in 2019. The Cardinals have shaken up their lineup. The Nats will go with their “A” lineup which has them at 4-3 this season.
The Nats have Josh Bell back in the starting lineup as Ryan Zimmerman comes off the bench. Josh Harrison was moved up in the order, and you will notice the final five batters in this batting order are all batting right-handed.
On the updated WAR rankings, Trea Turner took a big jump up the charts, and Joe Ross is still the Nats top rated pitcher even before this start with only 11.0 innings in the books.
Fangraphs WAR as of 4/18/2021
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 7:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN, BALLY Sports Midwest, MLB Network (out-of-area only), 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. Juan Soto RF
3. Josh Bell 1B
4. Kyle Schwarber LF
5. Josh Harrison 2B
6. Starlin Castro 3B
7. Yan Gomes C
8. Victor Robles CF
9. Joe Ross RHP
