The Washington Nationals started the season with John Lannan as their number one starter but he has had no success vs. the sportsbook odds and was demoted to Double-A Harrisburg on Monday. Lannan was 2-5 this season with a 5.76 ERA and the Nationals were not much of a threat vs. the odds at the sports book with Lannan on the mound.
Sportsbook odds on the Nationals are now focused on superstar pitcher Stephen Strasburg. The Nationals are bringing up right-handed pitcher Joel Peralta from Triple-A Syracuse to take the place of Lannan on the roster. Peralta was 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA and 20 saves with Syracuse.
Heading into Monday’s action, the Nationals had lost eight of their last nine vs. the baseball odds at the sportsbook. The only positive for Washington lately has been Strasburg. The Nationals hitting has gone sour and their pitching other than Strasburg has been weak. The Nationals were 20th in the league in ERA while their hitting was even worse at 24th in the league.
Washington is in last place in the National League East. They have some young talent but they do not have the depth in the starting rotation to contend this season and they don’t have enough quality hitters in their starting lineup. Adam Dunn can hit home runs but when Cristian Guzman is leading the team in hitting you know you are in trouble. Livan Hernandez has been the only other starter other than Strasburg who has been dependable and the bullpen has been decent led by Matt Capps so it is not all bad for Washington. What should also help the Nationals this week vs. the odds at the sports book is their schedule. They face Kansas City and Baltimore and they are two of the worst teams in the league.
Sending your top starter down to the minor leagues is never an easy decision but the Nationals had little choice. Lannan simply was not pitching well and Washington simply had to go in another direction. Not many teams can win consistently vs. baseball odds at the sportsbook without a number one starter. The Nationals don’t want to put too much on the shoulders of Strasburg this early in his career but there is already no question he is the best pitcher on the staff.