Washington Nationals vs. San Diego Padres Prediction: Can Juan Soto, Padres Dominate Again?
The Washington Nationals and the San Diego Padres play the second game of their series tonight. Can Juan Soto and the Padres dominate again? Baseball betting expert Krabs provides his prediction and pick for this game.
Krabs - May 24, 2023, 3:42 PM EDT
5 minWashington Nationals vs. San Diego Padres Prediction: Can Juan Soto, Padres Dominate Again?
What an action-packed return to Washington, D.C., for Juan Soto and the San Diego Padres last night. It was close early on, but the Padres were never losing that game. They put up some of the best at-bats of the season against the Washington Nationals last night. Juan Soto, Xander Bogaerts, and Jake Cronenworth all went yard last night, and by looking at the home run odds for today’s game, it wouldn’t surprise me if they hit ever more home runs tonight.
Nationals vs. Padres Start Time and Where to Watch
- Date: May 24, 2023
- Game Time: 7:05 pm ET
- Where to Watch: MLB.TV
Washington Nationals vs. San Diego Padres Prediction
The Padres are throwing a young lefty tonight, a recipe the Nationals typically like. Ryan Weathers has been dominant for the majority of the season but is coming off his worst outing, where he allowed four runs to the Dodgers in Los Angeles. I give Weathers a pass on his performance in that outing, the Dodgers have debatably the best lineup in baseball. On the other hand, the Nationals have a much less intimating lineup for the 23-year-old flamethrower to face.
The Nationals have crushed left-handed pitching all season, but they prefer the soft-tossing lefties compared to a guy like Weathers, who throws gas. The young lefty has seen an uptick in his velocity this season, which should help tonight. Let’s be honest; can we expect the Nationals to hit nearly .300 against lefties this entire season? That probably isn’t a fair request considering the pieces they have on that roster. Washington is long overdue to regress against LHP, and tonight’s matchup against the hard-throwing Weathers could be the start of their regression.
Trevor Williams has been a pleasant surprise for the Nationals on the bump this year. The crafty veteran has looked competitive in the majority of his starts in 2023. Considering how well he’s pitched, it’s concerning to see the total on the rise. We saw what the Padres bats were able to do last night against a much better arm in Gore. It won’t get any easier for Williams or the Nationals with how locked in the Padres currently look at the plate.
After hitting four home runs last night, many of the Padres have insanely short odds to go yard again tonight. Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, Matt Carpenter, and Trent Grisham all have odds shorter than (+320) to go yard tonight. Considering how poorly this Padres’ offense has performed this season, these home run odds are extremely telling. It looks like Trevor Williams will be pitching in a home run derby at Nats Park tonight.
Yesterday I talked about how important this series is for the Nationals, and how much they want to beat their old teammate Juan Soto. After going to the game, I couldn’t help but notice how locked in the Padres were all game. They clearly came to D.C. on a business trip, looking to get their guy Juan Soto a sweep against his old team. This series is personal for Soto and the Padres, not just the Nationals. With how good San Diego looked at the plate yesterday, go back to the well and take the Padres to defeat the Nationals in D.C. tonight.
Washington Nationals vs. San Diego Padres Pick
San Diego Padres ML -155 is currently the best odds. Click here to see which sportsbooks have the best odds
MLB Odds
