Opening weekend for the Philadelphia Phillies (1-2) wasn’t an ideal one. After winning the season opener on Thursday, Philly was no-hit by Texas Rangers’ starters into the fifth inning on both Saturday and Sunday.
Whether it’s still finding their sea legs after getting minimal at-bats in Spring Training, or the chilly weather preventing the bats from heating up, Philadelphia has excelled with some home cooking over the last few seasons. Add in the proverbial medicine of facing the team most pundits expect to finish the year in the basement of the National League East in the Washington Nationals (2-1), and the Phillies may have the remedy to cure their early offensive ailments.
Still, no one is a pushover in Major League Baseball, not even a Nationals team who is unsure of their starting pitcher for the fifth game of the season. They do have twice as many wins as the Phillies after winning their opening series on the road against a presumed World Series contender in the Chicago Cubs.
Philly will need to turn things on early. Manager Rob Thomson has liked their fight late, but in the last two games the offense has gone 0-for-17 with seven strikeouts and one walk the first time through the order. “We gotta - and we will - we gotta get it going a little bit early in the game,” Thomson told reporters after the series finale yesterday.
Let’s see who they will have to try and get going against for Washington.
Taijuan Walker will make his first start of the season Monday. The big question for him coming into the year is how many starts will he make? After expecting to be in a long or bulk relief role in 2025, 21 of his 34 appearances came as a starter for various reasons. A valuable weapon to have on the roster, especially in a veteran like Walker.
Taijuan has adjusted well to his swing-man role, and knowing he would start the year in the rotation allowed him to work exclusively as a starter in both Phillies Spring Training and the World Baseball Classic.
That comfortability led to outstanding results. In his lone appearance for team Mexico in the WBC, Walker threw 3.1 no-hit innings. He earned a victory, recording three strikeouts while walking two. In Phillies camp, he was similarly effective. Walker only surrendered one run over his seven innings, spanning two starts. He surrendered six hits and two walks, while striking out four. Whiffs are not as common in the veteran right-handers game, but limiting base runners and using his sinker and splitter to induce ground balls is the name of his game.
Nats hitters are slashing a combined .180/.254/.262 against Taijuan, with most of their damage coming from two players - Keibert Ruiz (3-for-10, HR) and CJ Abrams (3-for-11, double). He has seemingly pitched around their young, prolific slugger, James Wood, limiting him to just one hit, but also granting the outfielder three free passes.
On the flip side, no current Phillies player has faced Foster Griffin. Monday’s catcher, Rafael Marchán was in the lineup for Lehigh Valley when the Iron Pigs faced him in 2022, but Griffin pitched in relief and the two never faced off.
Griffin signed in Japan to rebuild himself, as many pitchers have, and had an incredible 2025 for the Yomiuri Giants of NPB. He tossed a total of 89.0 innings, limiting base runners (0.96 WHIP) and had an impressive 87:22 K:BB rate. If that translates to the majors will be seen at Citizens Bank Park Monday night.
Andrew Painter, just 22 years old, is making his long awaited major league debut. Despite his youth, Painter was originally a part of the Phillies plans for the 2019 starting rotation before an injury-turned-Tommy John surgery derailed the start to his big league career.
Many, including his own front office, expected that first appearance to come last year. Phillies President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski, initially provided a timetable of "July-ish" for the club’s top pitching prospects debut. Instead, he spent almost the entire year at Triple A, sans a short trip to Clearwater. He was able to set a career-high in innings pitched with 118.0, but he struggled with command, not earning a spot with his lack of execution.
"It's definitely been a long road," Painter told reporters (including Corey Seidman of SI.com) prior to Monday’s contest. "I'm grateful for it, grateful for the failure. Last year was a tough one but I think I've learned a lot from it. It's been a long journey but I'm super grateful for all the people that have been a part of it.”
Painter flourished in Spring Training, allowing three earned runs over four starts (11.1 IP) and limiting baserunners as he surrendered only seven hits and two walks.
On Washington’s side, they haven’t announced who will start the game but it is presumed to be newcomer Zack Littell, who signed as a free agent a few weeks back. An innings eater who has pitched bulk innings for multiple teams over the years, Littell has had mild success against the Phillies in six appearances (one start). Combined, Philly is 7-for-28 with one extra-base hit - a Trea Turner double.
Sánchez, the new ace in town, will look to build on his stellar first game where he struck out 10 Ranger hitters over six scoreless innings. With Zack Wheeler’s injury and his electric finish to 2025 that saw him finish No. 2 in NL Cy Young voting, he’s the guy.
Cole Hamels told me last year “(Sánchez) is going to head a team. He's going to head a rotation.” Well his time is now. Despite two players in Washington’s lineup (Abrams and Jacob Young) hitting over .350 against him in limited exposure, the six-foot-six left-hander has held the team to a combined .224/.274/.241 line, limiting damage. There’s no reason to think he won’t do the same to close out the series and the homestand.
Opposing him is right-hander Cade Cavalli, who has been a solid arm in limited major league time. Cavalli missed time with injuries after making his debut in 2022. He returned to the big leagues last season, making 10 starts for Washington to the tune of a 4.25 ERA. However, his innings have been limited, lasting more than five frames just twice last year.
Marsh is off to a hot start at the plate, going 3-for-9 with two doubles in the opening series. Today will mark his second start against a left-handed starting pitcher already, something that won’t be common with Rob Thomson looking to get Otto Kemp in the lineup and playing left field in those situations.
While they are facing a left-handed starter today, the Nationals are expected to kick the final two games off with a righty, meaning Marsh will be in the lineup. Additionally, the Nationals only have three left-handed options in the bullpen, meaning not many times there will be a potential need to pinch hit.
Marsh was one of the best hitters on the team from May on in 2025, and over the last three seasons, he is 30th in all of baseball in OPS among players who have appeared in 400+ games, regardless of position. I expect him to continue to roll and solidify the middle of the order behind the big three Phillies hitters.
