by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com
The 2025 Major League Baseball season officially begins today with an Opening Day matinee as the defending National East Champion Philadelphia Phillies (95-67 in 2024) visit the Washington Nationals (71-91 in 2024) at Nationals Park. The National League East rivals will square off 13 times this season. The Phillies went 9-4 against the Nationals last season and have won the season series for five straight years against them.
The Washington Nationals will celebrate their 20th year of existence this season. Prior to the 2005 season, the franchise was known as the Montreal Expos. MLB announced that the Montreal Expos would relocate to Washington D.C. on September 29, 2004. The Nationals have won four National League East Division titles (2012, 2014, 2016, 2017) and the 2019 World Series since they’ve been in Washington D.C.
The Opening Day starters are Zack Wheeler (16-7, 2.57 ERA, 224 K’s in 2024) for Philadelphia and MacKenzie Gore (10-12, 4.06 ERA, 181 K’s in 2024) for Washington.
GAME ODDS
Moneyline: Philadelphia -175, Washington +145
Run Line: Philadelphia -1.5 (+102), Washington +1.5 (-122)
Run Total: over 7 (-120) under 7 (even)
SEASON OUTLOOK: PHILADELPHIA
The Philadelphia Phillies enter the 2025 MLB season as the favorite to repeat as the National League Champions after finishing 95-67 in 2024 and ending the Atlanta Braves six-year reign as NL East champs. The Phillies won the division for the first time since 2011. Philadelphia’s 95 victories was their highest win total since 2011 when they finished 102-60. Philadelphia has also increased their win total in each of the past three seasons.
The Phillies possessed one of the top offenses in MLB last season and they return many key players from the 2024 club. The two headliners from last season’s potent lineup are outfielder Kyle Schwarber (.248, team-leading 38 HR, 104 RBI in 150 gms) and first baseman Bryce Harper (.285, 30 HR, 87 RBI in 145 gms). The power-hitting duo has anchored the Phillies lineup in the regular season and postseason for the past three years. We’d expect more of the same from Schwarber and Harper in 2025.
Right fielder Nick Castellanos (23 HR, 86 RBI in 2024), third baseman Alec Bohm (.280, 15 HR, 97 RBI in 2024) and shortstop Trea Turner (.295, 21 HR, 62 RBI, 19 steals in 2024) are three more standouts in the Phillies lineup that return in 2025. The 28-year-old Bohm made his first All-Star appearance last year. The Phillies added long-time Minnesota Twins outfielder Max Kepler as a free agent. The 32-year-old spent his entire 10-year MLB career with the Twins and is expected to serve as the Phillies primary left fielder in 2025.
Philadelphia’s pitching staff was almost as impressive as its hitting was last season. Today’s opening day starter and staff ace Zack Wheeler put together the finest season of his excellent 10-year MLB career in 2024 with the Phillies. The 34-year-old, NL Cy Young runner-up went 16-7 with a 2.57 ERA and a 224:52 K:BB across 200 innings. Fellow starters Aaron Nola (14-8, 3.57 ERA, 197:50 K:BB in 2024) and Christopher Sanchez (11-9, 3.32 ERA, 153:44 K:BB in 2024) also pitched well last season and will return in 2025.
The Phillies added 27-year-old starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo (3-6, 5.00 ERA in 12 starts in 2024) in a trade from the Miami Marlins. Luzardo dealt with back and shoulder issues last year that limited him to just 12 starts. The Phillies are hoping Luzardo can regain his 2023 form where he made 32 starts and amassed 208 strikeouts to 55 walks. 2024 All-Star Ranger Suarez (12-8, 3.46 ERA, 145:41 K:BB) will begin the year on the 15-day injured list due to a sore lower back. He could rejoin the starting rotation by the end of April.
SEASON OUTLOOK: WASHINGTON
After establishing itself as one of the top franchises in MLB during the 2010’s and winning the World Series in 2019, the Washington Nationals ownership made the controversial decision to slash payroll and essentially start from scratch during the 2020 season. Washington jettisoned stars such as Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon, Max Scherzer and Juan Soto in a series of trades. Washington also lost homegrown stars Ryan Zimmerman and Stephen Strasburg (injury) to retirement. All six players were key contributors to the Nationals World Series win and tremendous amount of success leading up to the 2019 World Series crown.
Washington has endured five straight losing seasons — including four straight last place NL East finishes from 2020-2023 — since winning the World Series in 2019. But the Nationals have accumulated a number of young and talented players in exchange for the stars they jettisoned. Staff ace MacKenzie Gore, All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams (.246, 20 HR, 65 RBI, 31 steals in 2024), star outfielder James Wood (.264, 9 HR, 41 RBI, 14 steals in 79 games last year) and catcher Keibert Ruiz (.229, 13 HR, 57 RBI) are four players who Washington received in trades for Juan Soto, Trea Turner and Max Scherzer. All four players have become foundational building blocks for 2025 and beyond.
Twenty-four-year-old second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. (.282, 18 HR, 70 RBI, 22 steals in 2024) and 23-year-old outfielder Dylan Crews (.218, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 12 steals across 31 games in 2024) are two more talented, young players that the Nationals developed in their organization. Garcia was on par with CJ Abrams in terms of production last season. Crews was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of LSU, and was considered one of the best hitting prospects in recent draft history.
Washington also added some power to the lineup when they signed Josh Bell and Nathaniel Lowe to one-year free agent contracts. Both players are more than capable of hitting at least 20 homers this season. The 32-year-old Bell hit 27 homers for the Nationals in 2021. The 29-year-old Lowe hit a career-high 27 homers for Texas in 2022. He hit 16 homers and drove in 69 runs for Texas last year.
THE PICK: PHILLIES (Run Line)
The Nationals appear to be heading in the right direction with the development of their young players and the addition of some veteran power hitters but Zack Wheeler is one of the top pitchers in MLB. He was also 2-0 with 23 strikeouts in 3 appearances against the Nationals in 2024. Take the Phillies on the Run Line this afternoon!
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