Diamondbacks vs Nationals Weekend Series Preview

The Arizona Diamondbacks will take the train down to Washington D.C. from New York to take on the Washington Nationals. It's a three-game weekend series in which they'll take on a potential breakout young club in a stadium that the D-backs have experienced a lot of success in in years past.

The Nationals have had an extremely rough start to the season as they are 1-5 through the season's first six games. They have been outscored by 12 runs. They were just swept by the Toronto Blue Jays. Meanwhile, the D-backs just outscored the Yankees over a three-game series, won two of three games, and are 4-3.

The Diamondbacks have had the Nationals' number the last few years. Since 2022, the D-backs are 14-5 against Washington. That includes a 10-2 mark the last two seasons. At DC, Arizona is 5-1 the last two seasons.

Offseason Moves

The Nationals had a fairly active off-season albeit without any truly significant additions, but plenty of role players that can help the team's young players develop in 2025.

Some of their free agent signings were former D-back Josh Bell, Kyle Finnegan, Colin Poche, Jorge Lopez, Paul DeJong, Lucas Sims, Amed Rosario, and Michael Soroka.

They did make one significant trade, acquiring first baseman Nathaniel Lowe from the Texas Rangers. Lowe is under control for multiple seasons and thus has a chance to be the team's long-term first baseman depending on how he performs.

Pitching Matchups

RHP Brandon Pfaadt vs RHP Jake Irvin

Friday, April 4, 3:45 p.m. MST

Brandon Pfaadt makes his second start of the young season, fresh off an extension and leading the team in innings (181.2), starts (32), and strikeouts (185) from a year ago. Against the Cubs, he pitched extremely well with only one bad pitch that was hit for a two-run homer. Besides that, he put up a quality start with six innings, six hits, one walk, three runs, and five strikeouts.

Jake Irvin had a good first start in 2025. Against the Phillies, Irvin pitched five innings, gave up seven hits and two runs, but walked two with only two strikeouts. Last year, Irvin pitched in 33 games but only recorded a ho-hum 4.41 ERA. In one start against Arizona last year, he struggled and gave up eight hits and four runs in five innings with four walks and two strikeouts.

LHP Eduardo Rodriguez vs LHP Mitchell Parker

Saturday, April 5, 1:05 p.m. MST

Eduardo Rodriguez had a similar debut as that of Pfaadt against the Cubs. He pitched well, minus one pitch that arguably should've never happened had the umpire called it a strike, which it was. However, he went 5.1 innings and gave up two homers and three runs, but just three hits total, three walks, and five strikeouts. He'll look to prevent the long-ball better against the Nationals.

Mitchell Parker had a sparkling debut against the Phillies. While he did give up seven hits and two walks, he pitched around the traffic with aplomb and went 6.1 innings with five strikeouts. Last year, the left-handed rookie got into 29 games and pitched 151 innings with a 4.29 ERA. He pitched five innings against Arizona and gave up two runs, four hits, two walks, and struck out three in 2024.

RHP Corbin Burnes vs TBD

Sunday, April 6, 10:35 a.m. MST

D-backs' newest ace Corbin Burnes had a good debut, albeit it looked worse than it was due to a critical two-run error and a couple long at-bats that prevented him from going deep. He gave up four hits, two earned runs, and three walks, but struck out eight batters. He looked as good as usual albeit a couple issues putting batters away with two strikes.

Michael Soroka was expected to start Sunday's game, however, he was placed on the 15-day IL with a right biceps issue. This means that he will be unable to make this start, and the Nationals will have to go with a bullpen game or a temporary starter. They did call up Jackson Rutledge, who could get the start, potentially.

Offense

The Diamondbacks are eighth in homers this season with nine and rank third with 45 RBI. They're also third in runs with 45, seventh in hits with 62, and second in walks with 34. Their .267 batting average is eighth in baseball, but their slugging rate is fifth at .466. Their 19 doubles are second.

This shouldn't be a surprise, considering the team has scored six runs or more in five games so far. They're averaging 6.43 runs a game. That's certainly due to Gerlado Perdomo and Eugenio Suarez. Suarez has five homers and 11 RBI while Perdomo hit a grand slam Thursday and has 11 RBI on just eight hits.

For Washington, they have had a bit of difficulty squaring up the baseball. They've scored 21 runs so far and are averaging just 3.5 runs per game. They're 23rd in runs scored. They have hit nine home runs but have just 42 hits so far. That's 20th in MLB. The 67 strikeouts rank sixth-highest in MLB. Meanwhile, their batting slash is just .213/.279/.406.

Their star prospect, Dylan Crews, is hitless still with 10 strikeouts in 19 plate appearances. Fellow star young player James Woods is hitting just .217 while centerfielder Jacob Young is hitting .083. On the other side, CJ Abrams is hitting .280 with a .908 OPS and Lowe is hitting .304 with an OPS of 1.012.

Bullpen

The Diamondbacks' bullpen should be fairly rested for this series. Justin Martinez hasn't pitched since Tuesday, and A.J. Puk just had a day off. Bryce Jarvis is fresh, as are Ryan Thompson and Joe Mantiply. Martinez should be set up for potential save chances Friday.

Meanwhile, the Nationals' bullpen consists of closer Kyle Finnegan who has struck out two and walked two in two innings, Jose Ferrer, Eduardo Salazar, and Brad Lord. Simsm, the offseason acquisition, has been hit hard in 1.2 innings with two homers, three runs, and fours hits given up over that span.