clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Series Preview: Washington Nationals (13-12) @ Atlanta Braves (15-9)

Coming off of a series against the Cincinnati Reds where everything finally seemed to break free of a early season swoon (except for Adam LaRoche), the Nationals have another crack at the division-leading Atlanta Braves in another four game series at Turner Field.

By Jared Book
Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

Well, that was more like it, wasn't it? Luck can finally go both ways! First, the Washington Nationals offense finally woke up for the most part and the pitching was where we thought it would be, except for Ross Detwiler who was due for some unfortunate negative regression. Now they get set to take on the Atlanta Braves in a four game series in the rare back-to-back four game sets.

Probable Pitchers
Monday, 7:10 p.m.
WSH: Stephen Strasburg (1-4, 3.16 ERA)
ATL: Julio Teheran (1-0, 5.48 ERA)

Tuesday, 7:10 p.m.
WSH: Gio Gonzalez (2-1, 4.50 ERA)
ATL: Tim Hudson (2-1, 4.50 ERA)

Wednesday, 7:10 p.m.
WSH: Jordan Zimmermann (4-1, 2.00 ERA)
ATL: Paul Maholm (3-2, 3.30 ERA)

Thursday, 7:10 p.m.
WSH: Dan Haren (2-3, 6.29 ERA)
ATL: Kris Medlen (1-3, 3.26 ERA)

Projected Braves Lineup (via MLB Depth Charts)
1 SS Andrelton Simmons
2 CF B.J. Upton
3 LF Justin Upton
4 1B Freddie Freeman
5 C Evan Gattis
6 2B Dan Uggla
7 3B Juan Francisco vs RHP
8 RF Jordan Schafer vs RHP

Braves Bench
C Gerald Laird
3B/1B Chris Johnson 3B vs LHP
IF Tyler Pastornicky
IF Ramiro Pena
OF Reed Johnson RF vs LHP

Braves Bullpen
RHP Craig Kimbrel
LHP Eric O'Flaherty
RHP Jordan Walden
LHP Luis Avilan
RHP Cory Gearrin
RHP Anthony Varvaro
RHP Luis Ayala

WASHINGTON NATIONALS

Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Bryce Harper 24 86 18 31 5 1 9 18 13 15 1 2 .360 .444 .756
Wilson Ramos 6 20 3 6 0 0 2 3 3 1 0 1 .300 .391 .600
Ian Desmond 25 95 13 28 10 1 3 8 3 25 3 1 .295 .313 .516
Gio Gonzalez 5 7 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 .286 .286 .714
Denard Span 23 90 9 25 2 1 0 9 11 13 4 1 .278 .356 .322
Jayson Werth 25 94 17 25 2 0 4 10 6 19 2 0 .266 .317 .415
Steve Lombardozzi 18 39 2 10 3 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 .256 .275 .333
Stephen Strasburg 5 8 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .250 .250 .375
Kurt Suzuki 19 54 6 13 4 1 2 6 9 10 1 0 .241 .354 .463
Ryan Zimmerman 15 53 3 12 2 1 1 11 7 14 0 0 .226 .311 .358
Anthony Rendon 6 20 1 4 1 0 0 1 3 6 0 0 .200 .304 .250
Dan Haren 5 10 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 .200 .200 .300
Tyler Moore 13 22 2 4 3 0 0 4 1 11 0 0 .182 .217 .318
Danny Espinosa 21 73 8 13 7 0 2 6 3 13 1 0 .178 .221 .356
Jhonatan Solano 3 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .167 .167 .167
Adam LaRoche 22 74 7 10 1 0 3 8 7 28 0 0 .135 .210 .270
Chad Tracy 13 23 0 3 0 0 0 1 3 7 0 1 .130 .231 .130
Roger Bernadina 12 17 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 7 0 0 .059 .111 .059
Jordan Zimmermann 5 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Ross Detwiler 5 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 .000 .100 .000
Craig Stammen 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Drew Storen 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Ryan Mattheus 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Tyler Clippard 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Rafael Soriano 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Henry Rodriguez 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Zach Duke 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000

Pitching

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
Jordan Zimmermann 4-1 5 5 2 1 0 0 36.0 24 8 8 2 7 19 2.00 .86
Ross Detwiler 1-2 5 5 0 0 0 0 31.0 36 9 7 1 6 16 2.03 1.35
Craig Stammen 2-1 8 0 0 0 0 1 12.2 10 4 4 1 4 15 2.84 1.11
Stephen Strasburg 1-4 5 5 0 0 0 0 31.1 27 15 11 3 8 28 3.16 1.12
Ryan Mattheus 0-0 9 0 0 0 0 1 11.0 12 4 4 0 3 10 3.27 1.36
Rafael Soriano 0-0 10 0 0 0 7 1 10.0 7 4 4 2 3 10 3.60 1.00
Tyler Clippard 1-0 10 0 0 0 0 0 9.1 4 4 4 1 7 8 3.86 1.18
Henry Rodriguez 0-0 9 0 0 0 0 0 8.2 4 4 4 1 9 6 4.15 1.50
Gio Gonzalez 2-1 5 5 0 0 0 0 28.0 19 14 14 3 13 27 4.50 1.14
Zach Duke 0-0 7 0 0 0 0 0 11.1 14 9 7 1 3 9 5.56 1.50
Drew Storen 0-0 9 0 0 0 0 1 9.1 15 8 6 2 1 10 5.79 1.71
Dan Haren 2-3 5 5 0 0 0 0 24.1 38 21 17 6 4 20 6.29 1.73

Washington Nationals Injuries

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Ryan Zimmerman hamstring 04/18/2013
Wilson Ramos hamstring 04/14/2013
Christian Garcia forearm 03/22/2013

ATLANTA BRAVES

Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
Julio Teheran 4 7 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .429 .429 .429
Chris Johnson 20 75 10 29 6 0 2 8 2 14 0 0 .387 .410 .547
Tim Hudson 5 11 0 4 0 0 0 2 1 3 0 0 .364 .417 .364
Blake DeWitt 4 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .667
Jordan Schafer 15 25 4 8 1 0 0 2 4 7 3 1 .320 .414 .360
Gerald Laird 8 25 1 8 2 0 0 4 3 2 1 0 .320 .393 .400
Justin Upton 24 88 21 27 5 0 12 18 13 26 3 0 .307 .398 .773
Juan Francisco 18 63 8 19 1 0 4 11 3 23 0 0 .302 .333 .508
Freddie Freeman 11 39 7 11 2 0 1 9 5 13 0 0 .282 .378 .410
Ramiro Pena 18 37 4 10 2 0 1 6 6 9 0 2 .270 .372 .405
Evan Gattis 20 72 9 17 5 0 6 14 5 19 0 0 .236 .291 .556
Andrelton Simmons 22 79 11 18 2 0 1 7 8 10 1 1 .228 .295 .291
Reed Johnson 17 27 1 6 4 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 .222 .276 .370
Dan Uggla 22 75 12 12 1 0 4 8 14 31 0 0 .160 .292 .333
B.J. Upton 22 86 6 13 3 0 3 5 8 30 3 2 .151 .229 .291
Tyler Pastornicky 4 7 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .143 .143 .286
Jason Heyward 17 58 8 7 2 0 2 5 8 12 1 1 .121 .261 .259
Paul Maholm 5 11 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 .091 .091 .091
Mike Minor 5 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Kris Medlen 5 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Anthony Varvaro 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Cristhian Martinez 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Jordan Walden 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Eric O`Flaherty 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Luis Avilan 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Cory Gearrin 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Craig Kimbrel 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Luis Ayala 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000

Pitching

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
Anthony Varvaro 1-0 7 0 0 0 0 0 12.2 9 2 2 1 4 7 1.42 1.03
Cory Gearrin 0-0 14 0 0 0 0 0 12.1 9 2 2 1 4 11 1.46 1.05
Eric O`Flaherty 3-0 11 0 0 0 0 0 10.2 6 2 2 0 3 4 1.69 .84
Craig Kimbrel 0-0 10 0 0 0 8 1 9.2 6 2 2 0 3 14 1.86 .93
Jordan Walden 0-0 9 0 0 0 0 0 9.0 11 2 2 0 0 8 2.00 1.22
Luis Avilan 1-0 10 0 0 0 0 0 9.0 9 3 3 0 5 4 3.00 1.56
Mike Minor 3-2 5 5 0 0 0 0 31.2 26 11 11 3 5 27 3.13 .98
Kris Medlen 1-3 5 5 0 0 0 0 30.1 32 13 11 3 9 18 3.26 1.35
Paul Maholm 3-2 5 5 0 0 0 0 30.0 25 11 11 1 11 28 3.30 1.20
Luis Ayala 0-1 5 0 0 0 0 0 4.2 4 2 2 0 3 5 3.86 1.50
Tim Hudson 2-1 5 5 0 0 0 0 28.0 28 14 14 5 9 18 4.50 1.32
Julio Teheran 1-0 4 4 0 0 0 0 23.0 29 14 14 5 7 15 5.48 1.57
Cristhian Martinez 0-0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2.1 5 2 2 0 0 0 7.71 2.14


Atlanta Braves Injuries

15-Day

Player Injury Type Injury Date
Brandon Beachy elbow 03/22/2013
Paul Janish shoulder 03/23/2013
Brian McCann shoulder 03/23/2013
Jonny Venters elbow 03/27/2013
Cristhian Martinez shoulder 04/07/2013
Blake DeWitt lower-back 04/20/2013
Jason Heyward appendix 04/21/2013


NL East Standings

W L PCT GB STRK
Atlanta 15 9 .625 0 Lost 4
Washington 13 12 .520 2.5 Lost 1
Philadelphia 12 14 .461 4 Won 3
New York 10 13 .434 4.5 Lost 4
Miami 6 19 .240 9.5 Won 1

(updated 4.29.2013 at 2:13 PM EDT)


TEMPERATURE CHECK (Last 7 Days)

Who's Hot
Justin Upton (ATL): 7/21 (.333/.440/.810), 1 2B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K
Reed Johnson (ATL): 4/11 (.364/.417/.636), 3 2B
Bryce Harper (WSH): 7/21 (.364/.481/.610), 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 6 BB, 3 K
Anthony Rendon (WSH): 4/16 (.250/.368/.313), 1 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K

Who's Cold

B.J. Upton (ATL): 2/20 (.100/.174/.250), 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K
Dan Uggla (ATL): 3/19 (.158/.238/.368), 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 11 K
Adam LaRoche (WSH): 0/24 (.000/.000/.000), 1 R, 11 K
Danny Espinosa (WSH): 5/26 (.192/.222/.385), 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K

MATCHUPS TO WATCH

Harper vs Upton

This one is pretty self explanatory but both are leading their offenses and are among the league's best hitters right now. This is a rare chance to see two of the best players in baseball right now. And with B.J. Upton and Adam LaRoche struggling and Jason Heyward and Ryan Zimmerman injured, it's all about these two.

Nationals Pitching vs Braves Platoon

The Braves have two platoons right now, and with the Braves missing Ross Detwiler, it is 3 right handed starters and one left handed. That means the Braves will send out Juan Francisco who is among the hottest hitters on the Braves right now after a tough series against Detroit lowered a lot of their offensive numbers. Reed Johnson is always effective against left-handed pitching late in a game or in a spot start as well. How the Nationals deal with the lower part of the Braves order will be huge as the Nationals offense, while getting better, is not yet 100 per cent.

More From Federal Baseball