The Philadelphia Phillies won the National League East last season and look to repeat this season. They open against another National League East rival, the Washington Nationals. Finished 95-67 last season and won the division by six games. The Nationals finished 71-91 for the second straight season. Philadelphia will go with Zack Wheeler on the mound. He went 16-7 last season with a 2.57 ERA. McKenzie Gore gets the call for the Nationals. He went 10-12, with a 3.90 ERA last season. Philadelphia returns an offense that ranked fifth in batting average, seventh in home runs and fifth in runs. Against the Nationals, Wheeler is 14-15 over his career with a 4.45 ERA, in 2024 he was 2-0 with a 2.29 ERA in three starts. Washington has been rebuilding since winning the World Series. Gore finished the season strong,allowing two earned runs or fewer in all of his last seven starts. Gore went 1-1 with a 3.42 ERA in four 2024 starts against the Phillies. Washington has a lot of young talent but will have growing pains. Wheeler has been really good since joining the Phillies. I want to see more consistency out of Gore and the young nucleus.

Play on Philadelphia. This is a 3 % play.