The Nationals begin a 3-game series with the 29-34 Texas Rangers tonight, kicking off with a return to DC for Patrick Corbin
After a successful road trip, the Nats drop a series at home to the best club in the National League, the Chicago Cubs. The offense, which was on an all-time high just a week ago, has faltered, scoring just 7 runs in their last 4 games, less than they scored each game in the previous 4 games. They’ll face another tall task in the squad with the 3rd best ERA in baseball, the Texas Rangers, coming to town for a 3-game series.
Entering the season, the read on the Rangers was that their offense would be electric, but their pitching may hold them back from true contention. So far in 2025, the opposite is true, with their pitching ranking top 3 in baseball and their offense ranking bottom 5. Offseason acquisitions such as Jake Burger and Joc Pederson have failed to produce at a high level for them, while stars from the 2023 World Series squad, such as Adolis Garcia, Corey Seager, and Marcus Semien, have seen a severe decline in their numbers. Coming off being swept by the Tampa Bay Rays, with their last loss ending in wild walkoff fashion, they’ll look to be turning around their luck like the Nats will be this weekend.
The key to this weekend for the Nationals will be manufacturing runs against a pitching staff that does not allow a high volume of them. This means not giving away outs on the base paths, something they struggled with against the Cubs, and playing small ball at the bottom of the lineup so that the top of the order has the chance to hit with runners in scoring position. They also cannot afford to help the Rangers by giving away runs in the field and must play clean defense this weekend.
Texas Rangers Team Stats
Team OPS: .642 (14th in AL, 27th in MLB)
Team OPS Leader: Wyatt Langford (.753)
Team HR Leader: Wyatt Langford (11)
Team ERA: 3.19 (1st in AL, 3rd in MLB)
Team ERA Leader: Nathan Eovaldi (1.56)
Team Save Leader: Luke Jackson (8)
Game One – Friday 6:45 EDT
WSH: RHP Michael Soroka (2-3) – 31 IP, 5.81 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 29 Ks
TEX: LHP Patrick Corbin (3-4) – 53.1 IP, 3.71 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 41 Ks
The story of Soroka’s season has been his struggle to pitch deep into games, as he usually can make it through 5 innings or so before things fall apart. This was also the case in his last start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he started with 3 scoreless innings, before giving up 2 in the 4th, and 2 more in the 6th, where he was then pulled. Ideally, Soroka gives the Nats a solid 5 or so innings tonight against a struggling Rangers lineup and then turns it over to the bullpen to do their job.
No, the ERA next to Patrick Corbin is not a typo. In maybe the most Nats way ever, Corbin has flipped a switch as soon as he left and has been not just an innings eater for the Rangers, but an actual good pitcher. He got the loss in his last start because the Rangers were shut out by the St. Louis Cardinals, but he pitched a solid 5 1⁄3 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 2 runs. He now gets a chance against his old club tonight, which notably has struggled against left-handed pitching this season.
Game Two – Saturday 4:05 EDT
WSH: LHP Mitchell Parker (4-5) – 65 IP, 4.71 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 42 Ks
TEX: RHP Jacob deGrom (5-2) – 69.1 IP, 2.34 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 66 Ks
Parker’s season got off to a solid start in 2025, but has come off the rails as of late, pitching to a 7.99 ERA in his last 7 starts. He was better in his last outing against the Diamondbacks, allowing 3 runs over 5 innings of work, but still is looking to get back to his beginning-of-the-year level of success, where he was pitching into the 6th or farther regularly and rarely allowed more than 3 runs.
The question mark with deGrom was never about his talent coming into the season, but his health, and so far in 2025, he is healthy and he is really good. He’s already surpassed his innings totals from the past 3 seasons, and is just getting better, with a 1.70 ERA over his past 7 starts, including 6 innings of 1 run ball against the Cardinals in his last start. In 22 career starts against the Nats, deGrom is 9-4 with a 2.41 ERA, with his last start against them coming on August 2nd, 2022, the day of the Juan Soto trade, a game the Nationals somehow won.
Game Three – Sunday 1:35 EDT
WSH: Trevor Williams (3-6) – 59.2 IP, 6.03 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 47 Ks
TEX: Tyler Mahle (5-3) – 71.1 IP, 2.02 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 53 Ks
The Nationals can only trot out Williams and his 6+ ERA every 5th day for so long, especially with Cade Cavalli appearing to be healthy and pitching well in Triple-A, but for now, he remains. Williams was roughed around by a strong Cubs lineup in his last start, allowing 5 runs over 4 1⁄3 innings of work and taking the loss. He’ll look to recreate some of the magic he had going in his 6 scoreless innings start in Seattle against a struggling Rangers lineup.
Mahle has been a nice surprise for the Rangers this season, having a career year after missing nearly all of 2023 and 2024 due to Tommy John Surgery. He gave up 4 runs over 5 1⁄3 innings of work in his last start against the Rays, but has been very solid other than that, posting a 2.72 ERA in his last 7 starts. The Nats may have the best chance of an offensive explosion this weekend off Mahle rather than the lefty Corbin or the ace-like deGrom, but it will not come easily.
How Will the Nats Bats Respond?
The Nats’ bats have failed the last few games the way they did on their last road trip, but they now match with another lineup without much thump in it in the Rangers. The winner of this series will be decided by which team plays a cleaner brand of baseball, not giving away runs with sloppy defense or running into outs on the basepaths. If the Nats can take at least 2 games this weekend, they set themselves up nicely in the standings before they head to Queens for a 3-game set with the New York Mets.