Washington Nationals (24-32) vs Philadelphia Phillies (25-31)
Friday, June 02, 2023 at 7:05 pm
Zack Wheeler found something in Atlanta in his last outing. He was electric! He pitched 8.0 innings and allowed 4 baserunners (3 hits 1 walk) and 0 runs while striking out 12 Atlanta batters. THIS is the Zack Wheeler the Phillies have been waiting to see. He faced the Nationals twice last season and the Phillies won both games with a combined total score of 18-2. In those two outings, Wheeler pitched 12.0 innings and allowed 6 hits and 1 earned run while fanning 10 batters. I look for him to carry his momentum from Atlanta over into this game tonight.
Josiah Gray has been really good this season and I'm not looking to make a habit of fading him. However, there are some regression concerns in his game as his era is 2.77 but his xFIP is 4.97. He's walking a lot of batters and not striking out very many. In fact, he has allowed 16 walks and only has 14 k's in his last 4 starts. That line is very concerning moving forward. The Phillies are very familiar with him and those walks could spell disaster for him tonight. In his last two starts against Philly last season, they hit 6 home runs in 10.0 innings. This is a great spot for the Philly offense that could use a boost.
I love the pitching matchup in this one and I look for the Phillies to finally score some runs.
Take Philadelphia -1.5
Best of luck -- Mike