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Since Miami Marlins' pitcher Jose Fernandez made the jump to the Majors in 2013, he has been a big problem for the Washington Nationals.
In the six starts against the Nationals, Fernandez is 3-0 with a 0.98 ERA. He's given up four runs on 20 hits and held the Nationals' hitters to a .164 batting average.
He has recorded 43 strikeouts when starting against Washington. That's tied with the Atlanta Braves for the most strikeouts against any team he has faced.
Anthony Rendon and Jayson Werth have had their fair share of problems when facing the Marlins' ace.
Fernandez has struck out both players more times than anyone else on the Nationals.
Rendon struck out six times, while Werth was sat down seven times by Fernandez.
Werth has a .063 batting average when facing Jose. That’s the lowest on the team. Catcher Wilson Ramos has the second lowest batting average at .143.
First baseman Ryan Zimmerman has found some kind of success against Fernandez. Zimmerman has a .286 batting average and has one of the Nationals' three home runs they have hit off Fernandez.
Jayson Werth and Clint Robinson are the other two players that went deep off Fernandez.
One thing to take note of is that the Marlins' ace has surrendered more walks to the Nationals than any other team in baseball.
Fernandez gave Washington hitters a free pass seven times this year and 12 times in his career. It's no surprise that outfielder Bryce Harper has walked the most when going up against Fernandez.
The 2013 NL Rookie of the Year will be entering Saturday’s matchup with 5-2 record and a 3.21 ERA on the year.
In his last start, in which the Marlins beat the Nationals 5-1, Fernandez allowed one run, four hits, three walks and tallied 11 strikeouts.
Fernandez pitched six innings, and gave up one run on three hits while striking out nine batters the first time he pitched against the Nationals this season.
The last time the Nationals beat the Marlins when Fernandez got the start was on April 16, 2014.
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Photo © Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports
Even though the Nationals won, the right-hander still was pretty solid as he gave up three runs (zero earned) on four hits and recorded 10 strikeouts in seven innings. In that game, Werth hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning.
When the Nationals went into the series finale against the New York Mets on May 19, Matt Harvey had an ERA below 2.00 against them.
Washington managed to score nine runs and knocked Harvey out after 2.2 innings. With that in mind, the Nationals and fans should go into the game with hope of a turnaround against the Marlins' ace.