Washington Nationals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction, 4/17/2025 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Washington Nationals vs Pittsburgh Pirates

Date: Thursday, April 17, 2025

Location: PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh

Odds/Point Spread: Washington (-196) Pittsburgh (+162)

The Washington Nationals (7-10) are traveling to PNC Park on Thursday where they will play the Pittsburgh Pirates (6-12). The moneyline on this game has Washington at -196 and Pittsburgh is at +162. The over/under is 9. The starting pitchers will be Trevor Williams and Andrew Heaney.

As a team, the Washington Nationals are earning 4.5 runs per game, which is 14th in MLB. They are sitting with 76 runs scored and have an OBP of .313. The Nationals have hit 24 doubles as a team and have knocked 19 balls out of the park. They have 74 RBI's and 130 hits on the season, while their team batting average comes in at .234. Washington has a slugging rate of .387 and have been called out on strikes 139 times, while being walked on 59 occasions.

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The Nationals have an earned run average of 5.17 so far this season (30th in the league), and the staff has rung up 135 hitters. Nationals pitchers have relinquished 17 home runs and also 90 total runs (26th in the league). Their pitching staff has walked 68 opposing hitters and their FIP is 4.21 as a team so far this year. Washington has allowed 162 hits (9.9 per 9 innings) as well as 85 earned runs. Their strikeout to walk ratio is 1.99 and their pitching staff holds a collective WHIP of 1.55.

The Nationals relief pitchers have recorded a save rate of 75.0% and has come into the game in 17 save situations. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 36 base runners this year and 41.7% of those runners earned a run for their team. Nationals relief pitchers have entered the contest with players on base 21 times in addition to having 16 appearances in high leverage situations. The Nationals have sent 59 relief pitchers to the mound so far this year. The bullpen have accumulated 9 holds on the season (20th in the league). They have 6 saves on the campaign and have not converted 2 of 8 save opportunities.

The Washington Nationals have 444 putouts on the year, in addition to 154 assists and 10 errors. Their fielding percentage is holding at .984 which ranks 22nd in the majors, and have accumulated 13 double plays. The Nationals have converted 65.4% of balls hit into play into outs out of 1,332 innings on the field, which has them sitting at 29th in the majors.

Williams has taken the ball for 940 innings and has accounted for 771 punch outs thus far in his career. Williams (51-56 win-loss record in his career) sits with a FIP of 4.29 and he has faced 4,056 batters in the major leagues. His ERA is 4.35 (455 ER's allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.369. He has given up 982 hits (9.4 hits per nine innings) and has had 305 free passes.

Pittsburgh has 10 HRs so far this season to go along with 59 runs batted in. They have hit 20 two-baggers, while walking 66 times as well as scoring 60 runs. The Pittsburgh Pirates have earned an OBP of .280 as well as a batting average of .195 for the year. The Pirates hold a slugging % of .293 and they average 3.33 runs per game (26th in the league). They have struck out on 167 instances (4th in the league) and have a total of 115 base hits.

The Pirates hold a team WHIP of 1.263 in addition to having a FIP of 3.44 as a unit over the course of the season. Their strikeout to walk ratio sits at 8.20 (148 strikeouts against 62 walks). They have a ranking of 23rd in MLB as a staff in total hits allowed with 144. They have conceded 11 dingers and they allow 4.64 runs per 9 innings (19th in baseball). The Pittsburgh pitching staff have relinquished 84 runs over the course of the season while holding an ERA of 4.19 (76 earned runs given up).

Pittsburgh relievers have an inherited score rate of 28.6% out of their 28 inherited base runners. Their relievers have come in 25 times in high leverage situations in addition to 18 occasions with runners on base. Sitting with 18 save situations, the Pirates have compiled 11 holds and also 4 blown saves. They sit at 26th in MLB with a save percentage of 42.9%, and they have dispatched 61 bullpen pitchers onto the field over the course of the season. Pittsburgh has had relief pitchers enter the game in 7 save chances and they have earned 3 saves.

Out of their 1,470 innings on the diamond, the Pirates have earned a efficiency on defense of 69.0% (23rd in baseball). The Pittsburgh Pirates have turned 14 double plays and have notched a fielding percentage of .975 (28th in baseball). The Pirates have racked up 165 assists, 17 errors and have accounted for 490 putouts this year.

Heaney (51-63 mark in his career) has a 4.43 earned run average while giving up 8.7 hits per nine innings. His strikeout to walk ratio is 3.59 and he has faced 4,399 hitters so far in his pro baseball career. He has given up a total of 508 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.259 and a FIP of 4.4. In his MLB career, Heaney has given up 996 base knocks and he has 1,088 strikeouts in 1,032 frames.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Washington (-196)

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