Game 39: Nats at Marlins

The Nationals open a six-game road trip with a Friday night matchup between left-hander Foster Griffin and top Miami prospect Robby Snelling

Now that they’ve finally won their first home series of the season, the Nationals can shift their attention back to what they’ve done best: win on the road. The next week offers plenty of opportunities for that, with a six-game trip to Miami and Cincinnati on tap.

Tonight’s series opener at loanDepot Park features an intriguing matchup of left-handers. Foster Griffin has quickly developed into the Nats’ most-reliable starter this season, owner of a 3-1 record, 2.27 ERA and 1.084 WHIP. He’s allowed two or fewer runs in five of his seven starts, and he’s reached the sixth inning in each of his last five games. Now he gets his first look at a Marlins lineup that has hit only 28 homers, fourth-fewest in the majors.

Robby Snelling, meanwhile, makes his MLB debut tonight. The 22-year-old lefty, a first-round pick in the 2022 draft, entered the season as a top-50 prospect by all the various publications and then proceeded to go 3-1 with a 1.86 ERA and 0.897 WHIP in six starts at Triple-A Jacksonville. Oh, did we mention he struck out 44 batters in only 29 innings?

That will be quite the interesting challenge for the Nationals, who are going with as many right-handed hitters as they can against Snelling. Joey Wiemer will start in right field, which pushes James Wood to the DH role for tonight. Luis García Jr. once again is not in the lineup, but that may be a matchup decision more than anything.

I did not make the trip to Miami, choosing instead to spend Mother’s Day weekend with my family. But I’ll be monitoring the games for any news, and I’ll have a full wrap-up article at the end of the series. In the meantime, enjoy tonight’s game and the conversation in the comments section ...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot Park
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
DH James Wood
1B Curtis Mead
3B Brady House
SS CJ Abrams
CF Jacob Young
LF Daylen Lile
RF Joey Wiemer
2B Nasim Nuñez
C Keibert Ruiz

LHP Foster Griffin

MARLINS
2B Xavier Edwards
SS Otto Lopez
RF Kyle Stowers
1B Christopher Morel
DH Connor Norby
LF Javier Sanoja
C Joe Mack
3B Leo Jiménez
CF Esteury Ruiz

LHP Robby Snelling