Free Picks: Washington Nationals vs. San Francisco Giants

The Giants are one of the best teams in baseball. On Saturday, San Francisco looks to keep rolling against a Washington team that is much to be desired. Can the Giants continue to prove why they are one of the top offenses in the game, or will their bats fall silent in front of their hometown crowd?

We’re on the verge of the All-Star break and San Francisco and Washington currently have different outlooks for their season.  

The Giants are top dog in the NL West, while the Nationals are trying to stay afloat in the NL East. One team is destined for postseason baseball, while the other is hoping to compete down the line.  

Entering this Saturday afternoon game, the Nationals are sending lefty Jon Lester to the mound. Lester is 2-3 on the season with a 5.34 ERA. Meanwhile, the hometown Giants are tossing Anthony DeSclafani, who has been a gem for the Giants this season. The RHP is 9-3 with a 2.84 ERA. 

I think for this BetPicks Prediction, there is one wager that I am quite interested in. The combination of Lester’s high ERA paired with San Francisco’s offense means the Giants will have no issue scoring runs on Saturday. 

I normally focus on statistics within a team’s own league to gauge how strong they are doing against usual competition. With that being said, the Giants’ offense is not only one of the best offenses in the National League, they are a top offense in the MLB. 

San Francisco have scored 428 runs this season, good for 7th in baseball. The Giants also dig the longball as they lead the league in home runs as well. As a team, San Francisco is hitting .240, so they are seeing the ball decently out of the hand against Left-handed pitchers. I think these numbers above indicate that Lester will get shelled on Saturday. 

I am confident in this free MLB expert pick because Lester does not have his usual stuff this season. Lester is currently sporting the highest ERA of his career and teams have a .297 batting average against him. 

The Nationals bullpen has a team ERA of 4.11, which is another point in favor of San Francisco scoring a ton of runs. San Francisco feasts on terrible pitching, and I think Saturday will do wonders for Giants’ hitters. 

Washington has shown before they can compete, but I don’t like this match up on Saturday. Let’s roll with San Francisco heating up at the plate

• Lester has allowed 14 Earned Runs in last 3 starts.
• The Giants are 15-10 against LHP this season. 
• Lester has averaged 3.2 innings in last 3 starts.
• San Francisco averages 5.12 runs per game against LHP.