Welcome to Williamsport—Series Preview: Phillies at Nationals, August 18 – 20

On Sunday afternoon, the stars of the Phillies and Nationals won’t have the stage to themselves. The 2023 Little League World Series is well underway, and the Phils and Nats will play in the annual Little League Classic this Sunday at 7:00pm ET. In the stands, the players, families, and coaches of the 20 teams—ten from the United States and ten from other countries—will watch the Phillies and Nationals face off at Muncy Bank Ballpark in Williamsport, a place where the current stars of MLB dreamt of playing at twelve years old.

No active #Phillie has played in the LLWS; however, Scott Kingery and Drew Ellis, both of whom are on the AAA IronPigs, played in the LLWS in 2006 and 2008, respectively. Ellis has not been on the Phils' roster since 7/20/23. Kingery has not batted in an MLB game since 5/16/21.

— Colin Daly (@colin_daly21) August 18, 2023

Despite the fanfare and heartwarming interactions between major-league stars and Little Leaguers that are bound to be seen across social media on Sunday, the Phillies still have a series to win. At 66-55, they are two games ahead of the Giants for the top Wild Card spot and 3.5 games ahead of the Reds and Marlins, who are fourth in the Wild Card standings.

Last Time They Met

Just last week, the Phillies took three of four from the Nationals against Citizens Bank Park right in the midst of their stretch with 17 games in 17 days. The series began with a doubleheader on Tuesday, in which the two teams split. Zack Wheeler allowed three runs over six innings, and Kyle Schwarber drove in five runs to lead the Phillies to the win. The Phillies lost game two after the bullpen struggled to hold Ranger Suarez’s lead, but the Phils came back to win the series with victories the following two days. Game three’s win was headed by Michael Lorenzen and his no-hitter, while game four featured strong offensive performances from Trea Turner and J.T. Realmuto.

Prior to the Phils-Nats series last week, it was mentioned how much better the Nationals have been since the All-Star break, and that has remained the case for the past week. The Nats are coming into this series having won two straight and six of their last ten games, and they are averaging 6.5 runs scored per game over their last six games.

Containing Joey Meneses

With the way Nationals’ first baseman Joey Meneses has been hitting, this is not an ideal time for the Phillies to face the Nats seven times in the span of 13 days. In his last 15 games, Meneses is hitting .279 and has an OPS of .870. When the Phillies and Nats faced off last, he had 5 hits in 16 at-bats and recorded 11 total bases.

Umpire Derek Thomas made a bad call that cost the #Phillies the game.

He squeezed Craig Kimbrel on an 0-2 count in the 9th of a tie game. One pitch later, Joey Meneses hit a homer.

Phillies lost by 1.@Kimbrel46 #Nationals pic.twitter.com/Lt6QQblfUZ

— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) August 9, 2023

Meneses, 31, is in his sophomore season at the major-league level. A long-time minor-leaguer and a former IronPig, he finally made his big-league debut in August 2022. In 222 at-bats last season, Meneses hit .324 and sported a .930 OPS, and this season, he proved those numbers weren’t a fluke.

Prove-It Series for Johan Rojas

Even though Johan Rojas has impressed since being called up from AA Reading on July 14, he’s going to have to prove that he should stay with Brandon Marsh and Christian Pache returning from the IL.

Rojas has a .290 average and a .744 OPS in 69 major-league at-bats. Defensively, Rojas has been even better. His 8 DRS since the all-star break is the most in all of baseball, and he ranks in the 93rd percentile in speed and in the 94th percentile in arm strength.

Of course, these numbers are certainly worthy of a major-league roster spot; unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Marsh will definitely have a spot in the lineup when he returns, and with how hot Christian Pache’s bat was prior to his surgery, it’s hard to imagine anyone besides Pache being the Phillies’ fourth outfielder. So unless Rob Thomson finds a way to give Rojas consistent playing time, the front office will not want the organization’s 22-year-old, number-five prospect riding the bench in the major leagues.

All in all, if Rojas does not show some significant pop during this three-game set vs. the Nats, then his days in the bigs are probably numbered.

In game one, Rojas is starting in center field and batting ninth. Here’s the rest of the Phillies’ lineup:

1. Kyle Schwarber DH
2. Alec Bohm 3B
3. Bryce Harper 1B
4. Nick Castellanos RF
5. Bryson Stott 2B
6. Trea Turner SS
7. J.T. Realmuto C
8. Jake Cave LF
9. Johan Rojas CF

Game Times and Broadcasts

• Friday, August 18, at 7:05pm ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680 (Spanish), and 94.1 WIP
• Saturday, August 19, at 4:05pm ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680 (Spanish), and 94.1 WIP
• Sunday, August 20, at 7:10pm ET on ESPN, WTTM 1680 (Spanish), and 94.1 WIP

Note that Sunday’s game will be played at Muncy Bank Ballpark in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Nationals will be the home team.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Michael Lorenzen (RHP, 7-7, 3.23 ERA) vs. Joan Adon (RHP, 1-0, 5.14 ERA)

Game 2: Christopher Sanchez (LHP, 1-3, 3.39 ERA) vs. Jake Irvin (RHP, 3-5, 4.76 ERA)

Game 3: Zack Wheeler (RHP, 9-5, 3.63 ERA) vs. Trevor Williams (RHP, 5-7, 5.20 ERA)

Ranger Suarez is dealing with a hamstring issue. He won’t start Sunday. Wheeler will start Sunday. Nola Monday. They’ll see if Suarez can start soon after that.

— Destiny Lugardo (@destiny_lugardo) August 18, 2023

By the Numbers

• Run Differential
• Phillies: 37
• Nationals: -83

• Runs Scored Per Game
• Phillies: 4.63
• Nationals: 4.4

• Runs Allowed Per Game
• Phillies: 4.32
• Nationals: 5.08