Dodgers Nats Position-by-Position Breakdown

Starters: Clayton Kershaw/Rich Hill/Kenta Maeda/Julio Urias(?) vs Max Scherzer/Tanner Roark/Gio Gonzalez/Joe Ross(?)

The Dodgers have set their first three started for the season. Urias or Kershaw will start game four, depending on how the series is going.

The Nationals are being a bit more secretive with it. Scherzer will definitely start tomorrow’s game against Kershaw. Other than that, they haven’t announced what order their pitchers will go in. Scherzer will likely not go on short rest, so that’s where Ross can factor in.

Kershaw would run away with the Cy Young if he didn’t miss so much time. If he must be out of the conversation, Scherzer would undoubtably get my vote. Scherzer is one of a few pitchers that can match Kershaw pitch for pitch, but Kershaw is still the best pitcher in the world.

Hill and Maeda against Roark and Gio is a bit more dicy. Hill and Roark were two of the most unsung aces in baseball this season. Maeda will garner rookie of the year votes, and while Gonzalez struggled, he throws with his left hand. The Dodgers, as you might have heard, are not good against lefties.

If Stephen Strasburg were healthy, the Nationals rotation would be their strength and would likely carry them far into the playoffs. He isn’t so the Dodgers’ finally-healthy rotation gets the nod here.

Advantage: Dodgers, barely