Tonight’s MLB betting preview consists of the two best teams in the National League: the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals. The Nationals have already clinched their division while the Dodgers have clinched a playoff spot, though still mathematically possible for the Arizona Diamondbacks to overtake them for the National League West crown. Although the Dodgers are still the best team in all of baseball, prior to their current four-game winning streak, they had dropped 16 of their last 17 games – including an 11-game losing streak. Quite unprecedented for a team that was once on-pace to break the MLB regular season wins record. Are they finally back on track or will they get back to their losing ways tonight? Let’s preview tonight’s matchup of the two goliaths in the NL on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
Details
Date – Sunday September 17th, 2017
Time – 8:00PM EST
Line – WSH -140
Why The Dodgers Might Win
So far on the season, Hyun-Jin Ryu is 5-7 with a 3.59 ERA, 4.58 FIP, and 1.34 WHIP. For how well the Dodgers have been performing this year, you’d expect Ryu to have similar statistics as well. However, he’s been hampered by injuries and has struggled to find a consistent groove. He’s also allowed opponents to slash .258/.327/.452 on the season. In Ryu’s lone start against the Nationals, he took the loss while throwing seven innings and giving up 7 H, 4 ER, 1 HR, 0 BB, and 4 K – not too bad, but could be better. The Dodgers look like they have gotten over their horrific 16 losses in 17 games. If they can receive a solid outing from Ryu, their offense should be able to provide just enough for them to win their fifth straight game.
Why The Nationals Might Win
Stephen Strasburg has been dominant this season, compiling a 13-4 record with a 2.64 ERA, 2.79 FIP, 1.03 WHIP, and 10.5 K/9. He has also held opponents to a weak slash line of .209/.266/.331. The Nationals starting rotation, led by Max Scherzer, is arguably the best staff in the entire league, and Strasburg has been a huge part of it. In Strasburg’s only start against the Dodgers this season, he pitched six innings and allowed 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 8 K – a quality start. Even better, Strasburg has not allowed a single run in his last four starts while throwing a combined 29 innings and only conceding 3 BB to 33 K. If Strasburg can continue this prolific stretch, the Dodgers will have next to no chance in adding to their current four-game winning streak.
Outlook
This matchup pits one struggling pitcher in Ryu against another surging pitcher in Strasburg, who would be the ace of the starting rotation for many other teams in the league. While Ryu has faced the Nationals hitters a limited number of times, Matt Wieters, Adam Lind, and Anthony Rendon has had decent success against Ryu. On the other hand, Strasburg has absolutely dominated Chase Utley, Curtis Granderson, and Andre Ethier while not being able to hold Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Turner in-check as much as the other Dodger players. Although this year has been the Year of the Home Run, Strasburg has been pretty much immune to this trend, being able to keep the ball in the park better than any starter so far this season. While the Dodgers have been a great team this season, they’re sending out a fringe rotation starter in Ryu. Coupled with their recent absurd stretch and Strasburg’s dominance to-date this year, it’d be tough going against the Nationals at home in this matchup.
The good news with this game is we’ve gotten some value on the line since it opened up. At open, the Nats were sitting at -160, which is more than we’d like to lay in this scenario. However, the action so far has been on the Dodgers, which has pushed the number down to the -140 range. You can wait to see if there is more pressure in that direction but we like the Nats in this spot – especially at this price. Strasburg should get the job done for us in this spot.
Pick: Nationals -140
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