The Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Reds meet Thursday in MLB action at the Great American Ball Park. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Nationals vs Reds prediction.
Washington Nationals Betting Preview
The Nationals are coming off a 71-win season and enter the seventh year under manager Dave Martinez. The Nationals haven’t made the playoffs since winning the World Series in 2019. The Nats were busy in free agency, as they snagged Jesse Winker, Joey Gallo, Eddie Rosario and Nick Senzel. The Nationals starting pitching wasn’t good last year, and a top-3 starting rotation of Josiah Gray, Patrick Corbin and Jake Irvin doesn’t move the needle much. The Nationals are widely expected to be the worst team in the NL East this season, so don’t expect much of an improvement from a year ago. Josiah Gray gets the ball, and he was 8-13 with a 3.91 ERA and 143 strikeouts last season. Gray is 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA and 15 strikeouts in his career against the Reds. The Nationals will meet the Pirates in the series after this one.
Cincinnati Reds Betting Preview
The Reds won 82 games last year and enter year six under manager David Bell. The Reds improved last year’s win total by 20 games, so they’re in great shape if they can make a similar leap this season. The Reds bring back much of their young core from a year ago and add Jeimer Candelario to the middle of their batting order. The Reds also snagged Frankie Montas and Nick Martinez to their starting rotation. Elly De La Cruz is a superstar in the making and makes the Reds exciting. The NL Central is wide open, and the Reds are more than capable of winning it for the first time since 2012. Frankie Montas gets the ball, and he was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 1 strikeout last season. Montas is 0-0 with a 33.75 ERA and 1 strikeout in his career against the Nationals. The Reds will face the Phillies after this series.
Cincinnati Reds Team Facts
- The underdogs have won each of the last six games between the Nationals and Reds at Great American Ball Park.
- The road team has covered the run line in each of the last six games between the Nationals and Reds.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the last seven games between the Nationals and Reds at Great American Ball Park.
- The Reds have led after 7 innings in each of their last four home day games.
- The Reds have trailed after 5 innings in three of their last four games as favorites against National League opponents.
Washington Nationals Team Facts
- The Nationals have won each of their last six games as road underdogs against the Reds.
- The Nationals have covered the run line in each of their last six games at Great American Ball Park.
- The Nationals have won the first inning in three of their last four games as underdogs against the Reds.
- The Nationals have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last five season openers.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Nationals’ last seven games at Great American Ball Park.
Nationals vs Reds prediction
The Reds should be favored for obvious reasons, as they’re clearly the better team and at home. For the first time in a while, baseball is exciting in Cincinnati and the fans should be out in full force. However, Frankie Montas pitched just 1.1 innings last season, and he has just 27 starts since 2022. Josiah Gray is a bright spot as he was an all star last year and is a young pitcher getting better each season. There’s some value getting the Nats and plus money with their young ace on the bump. Give me the road dog in this season opener.