MLB Predictions For New York Yankees vs. Washington Nationals Match

The MLB is here and opening day looks like a treat for all the fans. The first match is between the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals on Thursday night, putting up potentially the two strongest teams against each other. 

The Yankees will be putting up Gerrit Cole to pitch, and the Nationals will send Max Scherzer. There’s a lot of new things happening this season, given there will be only 60 games. So, it is likely that teams’ strengths and weaknesses will vary this time around. But the Yankees and Nationals are favorites to make it to the end and have been for a long time. 

How do the Pitchers compare?

It’s Cole v. Scherzer, and they have gone up against each other in 2019. Back then, Cole was playing for the Astros. This was before he signed a mammoth nine-year deal with the Yankees in the off-season. He had three games with at least 14 strikeouts, if not more. He allowed no walks in these three games. He currently holds the Astros record because he won his last 16 regular-season decisions. Yes, 16! His overall stats look great -  14-0 with a 1.63 ERA in his last 17 regular season starts.

He also reached a career-high last season with 326 strikeouts - the most in the MLB and surpassed the Astros record set in 1979 by J.R. Richard with 313 strikeouts. At 29, he was also at the head of the American League with an ERA of 2.50, which is his career-best. He has had only one loss to his name since last May, and that was in the same game where he went against Scherzer. But since then, he has recovered from that loss and went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 36 2/3 innings.

Scherzer, on the other hand, couldn’t play many starts due to his back issues after the All-Star break. His record still holds up - 11-7, 2.92 ERA, and a 1.03 WHIP recording 243 strikeouts in 172 1/3 innings. All this in 27 starts that he did manage to play. His postseason finesse is what really took the Nationals all the way to win the World Series. 

Who won’t be playing?

Zimmerman decided not to play this 2020 season, so he is out for sure. The Nationals have not yet decided who will replace him at first base. Potential contenders include Howie Kendrick or Eric Thames. It is most likely that one of them will be at first base, and the other will be the designated hitter for this game.

On the other side, there is no news of any Yankees’ player sitting this season out. But they still have some injury issues. Not to forget coronavirus issues, as their lead closer Aroldis Chapman has tested positive for COVID-19. It is unlikely that he will be back to play soon. While it may seem like a tough situation to lose a great closer, the Yankees have a roster with amazing depth. That should be enough to get players to replace him adequately. The top players considered for this are Zach Britton and Adam Ottavino, and they’ve proven to be able to take over Chapman’s role on the team 

They also do have two more COVID-19 positive players - second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who was their best player last season, and reliever Luis Cessa. LeMahieu has fully recovered, and he returned to the Yankees last Friday. But the question is whether he is fit enough to play well and play like he usually does. It is unclear if he will be playing this match. That is one reason to go under on this game. 

According to LeMahieu’s statement on Saturday, he said that it is a possibility that he will play, but he was uncertain whether it was realistic or not. He said that it all comes down to the trainers and their decisions. He believes that even if he doesn’t play on Opening Day, he will be back to playing a few games in. 

Compared to this state of the Yankees, Cole didn’t perform on his only Opening Day start in 2017. He was playing with the pirates, and his loss came about due to allowing five earned runs on seven hits with just two strikeouts and one walk, all in just five innings. It ultimately led to a 5-3 away loss to the Red Sox.