Washington Nationals vs Miami Marlins Prediction 05-18-2023 MLB Picks

The Washington Nationals and the Miami Marlins meet in an NL East division matchup in MLB action from LoanDepot Park on Thursday. Let’s dive into the odds, starting pitching matchup, history and make a prediction for this game.

Odds

Miami is listed as a -145 home favorite while Washington is a +125 road underdog. The total for this game is set at 8 runs.

Starting Pitching Matchup

Trevor Williams will start for Washington here and is 1-1 with a 4.23 ERA and 27 strikeouts this season. Miami will start Eury Perez here and he is 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA and 7 strikeouts this season.

Matchup History

Miami’s 4-3 win over Washington on Wednesday made it back-to-back wins and wins in 5 of the last 6 meetings for the Marlins in this matchup.

Trends

Washington is 4-1 in their last 5 games following a loss and 19-62 in their last 81 division games while the under is 7-1 in their last 8 road games against a team with a right-handed starter. Miami is 5-2 in their last 7 games overall and 2-5 in their last 7 home games while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall.

Pick

I’m backing the Marlins here. Washington I think is a slightly better team than a lot of us thought they’d be this season, but Trevor Williams to me is not the most viable option as a starting pitcher. He’s been decent in spots, but in his last two road starts, he’s allowed nine runs over 9.1 innings of work. Eury Perez was unlucky in his debut to not get a better result, but I think he’s the better option here and in the later innings, I still trust Miami’s bullpen slightly more than Washington’s here. I’ll side with Miami in this one.