Tampa Bay Rays vs Washington Nationals Prediction, 9/7/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs Washington Nationals

Date: Monday, September 7, 2020

Location: Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

TV: MASN/SUN

Odds/Point Spread: Rays (-143) Nationals (+132)

Nationals Park is the venue where Asdrubal Cabrera and the Washington Nationals (14-24, 5th in NL East) will take on the Tampa Bay Rays (27-13, 1st in AL East) on Monday. The Nationals open this matchup at +132 while the Rays are coming in at -143. The total has been set at 9.5. The pitchers expected to start will be Trevor Richards and Max Scherzer.

Key Tampa Bay Rays Injuries

9/6/2020 Cody Reed RP Finger Probable for Sep 6
9/5/2020 Oliver Drake RP Biceps Expected to be out until at least Sep 10
9/4/2020 Jose Alvarado RP Shoulder Out for the season
8/31/2020 Yandy Diaz 3B Hamstring Expected to be out until at least Sep 11
8/29/2020 Jalen Beeks RP Elbow Out for the season
8/29/2020 Chaz Roe RP Elbow Out for the season
8/29/2020 Ryan Yarbrough SP Groin Expected to be out until at least Sep 10
8/29/2020 Mike Zunino C Oblique Expected to be out until at least Sep 10
8/22/2020 Yonny Chirinos SP Elbow Out for the season
8/13/2020 Andrew Kittredge RP Elbow Out for the season
7/21/2020 Colin Poche RP Elbow Out for the season

Key Washington Nationals Injuries

9/6/2020 Adam Eaton RF Knee Probable for Sep 6
9/5/2020 Josh Harrison DH Forearm Probable for Sep 6
9/4/2020 Juan Soto LF Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 7
9/2/2020 Javy Guerra RP Hamstring Expected to be out until at least Sep 12
8/29/2020 Starlin Castro 2B Wrist Out for the season
8/24/2020 Seth Romero RP Hand Out for the season
8/22/2020 Stephen Strasburg SP Hand Out for the season
8/18/2020 Sam Freeman RP Elbow Out for the season
8/13/2020 Roenis Elias RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 15
6/29/2020 Adrian Sanchez 3B Achilles Out for the season

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Rays have a 27-13 overall record this season. Richards (10-21 career record) has earned a FIP of 4.32 and he has gone up against 1,246 opposing batters during his time in the majors. His earned run average is 4.29 (137 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.390. He has surrendered 281 base hits (8.8 hits per nine innings) and has 118 free passes. Richards has thrown 287 innings and is sitting with 278 punchouts during his pro baseball career. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.84 and they have given up 166 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .215 against the bullpen and they've struck out 185 hitters and walked 66 batters. As a team, Tampa Bay allows 8.3 hits per nine innings while striking out 9.5 batters per nine innings. They are 8th in the league in team earned run average at 3.79. The Rays pitchers collectively have given up 325 base hits and 149 earned runs. They have allowed 51 home runs this season, ranking them 13th in the league. Tampa Bay as a pitching staff has walked 120 batters and struck out 373. They have walked 3.1 men per 9 innings while striking out 9.5 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.26 and their FIP as a unit is 4.07.

Related: Get MLB predictions on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team Tampa Bay is hitting .243, good for 16th in the league. The Rays hold a .434 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .335, which is good for 6th in baseball. They rank 15th in MLB with 8.1 hits per game. Brandon Lowe is hitting .250 with an on-base percentage of .349. He has 33 hits this season in 132 at bats with 27 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .561 and an OPS+ of 148. Joey Wendle is hitting .257 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .319. He has totaled 28 hits and he has driven in 10 men in 109 at bats. His OPS+ is 100 while his slugging percentage is at .404. The Rays have 322 hits, including 79 doubles and 53 home runs. Tampa Bay has walked 175 times so far this season and they have struck out 376 times as a unit. They have left 277 men on base and have a team OPS of .770. They score 5.1 runs per contest and have scored a total of 204 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Washington has a 14-24 overall mark this year. In his pro baseball career, Scherzer has conceded 1,927 base hits while tallying 2,753 K's in 2,333 innings pitched. He has given up a total of 832 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.098 and a FIP of 3.2. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 4.34 and he has faced 9,466 hitters in his MLB career. Scherzer (173-91 mark in his career) is the owner of a 3.21 ERA while giving up 7.4 hits per nine innings. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.33 and they have given up 133 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .209 against the Nationals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 154 batters and walked 68 opposing hitters. As a team, Washington allows 9.9 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.8 batters per nine innings. They are 24th in the league in team earned run average at 5.12. The Nationals pitchers as a team have surrendered 354 base knocks and 183 earned runs this season. They have given up 62 home runs this year, which ranks 3rd in Major League Baseball. Washington as a staff has walked 133 hitters and struck out 315 batters. They give up a walk 3.7 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.8 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.51 while their FIP as a staff is 5.04.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .267, good for 4th in the league. The Nationals hold a .442 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .335, which is good for 7th in baseball. They rank 5th in MLB with 8.9 hits per contest. Asdrubal Cabrera comes into this matchup batting .222 with an OBP of .294. He has 30 hits this year along with 19 RBI in 135 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .400 with an OPS+ of 82. Kurt Suzuki is hitting .269 this season and he has an OBP of .337. He has collected 21 hits in 78 at bats while driving in 9 runs. He has an OPS+ of 91 and a slugging percentage of .385. The Nationals as a unit have 340 base hits, including 67 doubles and 47 homers. Washington has walked 116 times this year and they have struck out on 289 occasions. They have had 261 men left on base and have an OPS of .777. They have scored 4.76 runs per game and totaled 181 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Rays/Nationals MLB game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take the Nationals (+132)

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