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The Cleveland Guardians are in Washington DC to face the Washington Nationals this weekend this weekend in a battle of the two teams with the fewest home runs in Major League Baseball.
Cleveland Guardians (-170, 9.5) vs. Washington Nationals
Entering the series, the Nationals had just five home runs this season while the Guardians had six, and just two teams entered Friday with fewer than 11 home runs the two teams combined for entering Friday: the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs.
Coupled with a lack of power, both teams have simply not found a way to get hits with Washington batting .233 at home entering the series, the third-worst home batting average in the National League.
After a shaky start to the 2023 season where Zac Plesac allowed six runs in one inning of work against the Oakland Athletics, Plesac is back in the good graces of the Guardians and will get the start on Saturday against the Nationals.
Plesac is coming off of allowing just two runs in seven innings against the Seattle Mariners in his most recent start and in his last 17 appearances last season registered a 3.77 ERA with 2.6 walks per nine innings.
Nationals starter Chad Kuhl is looking for a career renaissance in Washington after posting a 5.72 ERA and 6.3 strikeouts per nine innings with the Colorado Rockies last season.
While Kuhl has never been a dominant starting pitcher, going to elevation to pitch for the Rockies made him look more mediocre than he is, as in five seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he posted a 4.44 ERA with 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
Both teams have reliable bullpens to support their starters as the Guardians have the best bullpen ERA among all 30 MLB teams since the 2022 All-Star Break while the Nationals are ninth in this category.
Though neither team is dealing an ace to start the game, both offenses have lacked power to begin the season and with the Nationals averaging 2.8 runs per game at home entering the series, it will be a pair of dominant bullpens late that steal the show.
The Play: Guardians vs. Nationals Under 9.5