Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, May 17.

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Welcome to the Morning Briefing! Haden here. Let’s talk about the weekend’s slate of games.

Leading this Morning’s Briefing: Nats to face tough pitching in Philly series

After getting shutout two days in a row, the Nationals head to Philadelphia to face one of the hottest pitchers in baseball. That’s right, RHP Zack Wheeler (4-3, 2.53 ERA) is on the bump for the Phillies in game one. Jake Irvin (2-3, 3.55 ERA) will be the one to face him. First pitch for this game will be at 6:40 pm ET and the game will be on MASN.

The Phillies will be missing a big piece of their lineup, Trea Turner. Before his trip to the IL, Turner was hitting .343/.392/.460 over 148 plate appearances. The Phillies lineup can bear the loss though. Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, and Bryson Stott all rank within the top 30 in OPS.

In game two, LHP MacKenzie Gore (2-4, 3.38 ERA) gets the ball against fellow southpaw Cristopher Sánchez (2-3, 3.43 ERA). First pitch will be at 6:05 pm ET and will be televised on MASN.

In the Sunday matinee, RHP Trevor Williams (4-0, 1.94 ERA) will take the mound against Philadelphia’s homegrown ace RHP Aaron Nola (5-2, 3.10 ERA). The game will start at 1:35 pm ET and televised on MASN.

Keep an eye on the site, as  and I’s latest episode of In the Clubhouse will hit the site later today. If you can’t wait, you can already find the show on YouTube.

Down in the Minors

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