The Washington Nationals host the San Francisco Giants on April 17, 2026. First pitch from Nationals Park is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on NBCS-BA.
The Giants are favored by -162 on the moneyline and by -1.5 on the run line. The Nationals are +136 on the moneyline and +1.5 on the run line. The total is set at 8 runs.
Find my MLB picks and Giants vs Nationals prediction below, as well as probable pitchers, weather report, and more.
Giants vs Nationals Prediction
- Giants vs Nationals Pick: Giants ML (-160 or Better)
My Giants vs Nationals best bet is on San Francisco to win outright. Make sure to find the best odds by checking our live MLB odds page.
Giants vs Nationals Odds
| Giants Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +106 | 8 -110o / -110u | -162 |
| Nationals Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -128 | 8 -110o / -110u | +136 |
- Giants vs Nationals moneyline: Giants -162, Nationals +136
- Giants vs Nationals over/under: 8 (-110 / -110)
- Giants vs Nationals spread: Giants -1.5 (+106), Nationals +1.5 (-128)
Giants vs Nationals Pitchers
| Logan Webb (RHP) | Stat | Zack Littell (RHP) |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | W-L | 0-1 |
| 0.5 | fWAR (FanGraphs) | -0.3 |
| 5.25 / 4.17 | ERA / xERA | 4.20 / 5.34 |
| 3.21 / 3.64 | FIP / xFIP | 7.17 / 4.49 |
| 1.38 | WHIP | 1.40 |
| 11.4% | K-BB% | 7.6% |
| 56.2% | GB% | 49.0% |
| 102 | Stuff+ | 85 |
| 105 | Location+ | 100 |
Giants vs Nationals MLB Betting Preview
This bet is based on three things:
- Zerillo’s projection
- Overrated Nationals
- Underrated Logan Webb
We’ll start with the projection.
Zerillo projects the Giants as -186 moneyline favorites today. With the consensus line sitting around -160, we’re getting around a 3.6% edge against the market.
As a reminder, you can see all of Zerillo's MLB game projections with an Action PRO Subscription. Find his projected lines every day on the PRO Projections tab.
Giants vs Nationals Pick, Betting Analysis
While the Nationals rank fourth among MLB lineups in wRC+ (112), I don’t believe this hot start is sustainable.
Their quality of contact looks brutal, as they also rank 24th in hard-hit rate and 19th in barrel rate with the third-highest ground-ball rate. They also have only a few good hitters at the top of the lineup (CJ Abrams, James Wood, Jacob Young, Daylin Lile) before things fall off a cliff.
While I’ve struggled fading the Nationals all season, I’m hopeful that negative regression will come soon.
The same goes for Webb, but in the opposite direction.
He’s pitching way better than his 5.25 ERA indicates. His earned run indicators look solid (3.64 xFIP), and he’s still forcing his typical high ground-ball rate (56%). But he’s been BABIP’d and LOB’d to death.
For example, the start against the Yankees on Opening Night was a travesty, as he allowed eight singles in a seven-run effort.
I’m concerned about San Francisco’s lineup, as the Giants look very poor at the plate, and it’s not going to get better unless Rafael Devers turns it around — his statcast page looks brutal.
But maybe Zack Littell is what they need to get right.
The Nationals’ righty is now throwing his fastball just over 91 MPH on average. As a result, his strikeout rate is down to 15%, while his earned run indicators are spiking over five (5.4 xERA, 7.2 FIP, 4.5 xFIP). His 4.20 ERA should be a lot higher, as he’s stranded every baserunner while allowing five solo home runs.
Littell also doesn’t provide much length, tossing fewer than 75 pitches in each of his three starts so far. That will likely force the Nats to lean on their league-worst bullpen (last in WAR, last in xFIP, second-to-last in Pitching+).
Pick: Giants ML (-160 or Better)
