Atlanta Braves vs Washington Nationals Prediction 4/23/2026 Today’s MLB Picks

Nikos Lagouretos

3 hours ago

Apr 1, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli (24) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

MATCHUP	Atlanta Braves	Washington Nationals
Team Records	17-8	11-14
Spread	-1.5 119	+1.5 -143
Moneyline	-136	+113
Total	Over 9.5 (-102)	Under 9.5 (-118)
Where	Nationals Park, Washington, District of Columbia
When	Thursday, April 23, 2026
Time	01:05 PM EDT
TV	MLB.TV

In this article, we will formulate a Braves vs Nationals Prediction for this MLB matchup on Thursday, April 23rd in the fourth game of this series. Let’s take a look at the prediction for this MLB matchup.

Washington Nationals Preview

The Washington Nationals have a 11-14 record this season and are sitting in the third place of the NL East. They have a 3-9 home record and are coming off a 6-8 home loss against the Braves. Their previous three games were an 11-4 home win and a 4-9 home loss against the Braves, and a 3-0 home win against the Giants.

The Nationals have a .255 batting average this season, .334 OBP and .411 Slugging percentage. Washington’s pitching staff has a 5.65 ERA and 1.52 WHIP. CJ Abrams is the team’s best hitter with a .291 batting average, also leading the team in RBI with 19. James Wood adds a team‑high 9 home runs.

Cade Cavalli (R) is the projected starting pitcher for the Nationals, and he has a 0-1 record, 4.12 ERA and 1.73 WHIP.

Atlanta Braves Preview

The Atlanta Braves have a 17-8 record this season and are sitting in the first place of the NL East. They have a 9-4 away record and are coming off an 8-6 road win against the Nationals. Their previous three games were a 4-11 road loss and a 9-4 road win against the Nationals, and a 4-2 road win against the Phillies.

The Braves have a .271 batting average this season, .339 OBP and .454 Slugging percentage. Atlanta’s pitching staff has a 3.16 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. Drake Baldwin is the team’s best hitter with a .320 batting average, also leading the team in RBI with 23. Matt Olson adds a team‑high 7 home runs.

JR Ritchie (R) is the projected starting pitcher for the Braves and he will make his MLB debut. He has posted a 0.99 ERA over five starts for Triple-A Gwinnett. He has allowed just one run over 23 2/3 innings in April.

Atlanta Braves @ Washington Nationals Betting Trends: April 23, 2026

Probable Starting Pitcher: Cade Cavalli Record this season: 0-1 ERA: 4.12
Home Record: 0-0
Last 5 against Braves: –

Why the Washington Nationals will win

The Nationals have won five of their last six games as underdogs following a loss.
The Braves have lost six of their last eight day games against the Nationals following a win.
The Nationals have covered the run line in each of their last six games following a loss.
The Braves have failed to cover the run line in six of their last eight day games against the Nationals following a win.
The Braves have lost the first inning in each of their last four games.
The Nationals have led after 5 innings in five of their last six day games against the Braves at Nationals Park.
The Nationals have led after 3 innings in five of their last six games against NL East opponents that held a winning record.

Probable Starting Pitcher: Ian Ritchie Record this season: – ERA: –
Road Record: –
Last 5 against Nationals: –

Why the Atlanta Braves will win

The Braves have won 11 of their last 12 road games against NL East opponents that held a losing record.
The Nationals have lost six of their last seven home games against NL East opponents.
The Braves have covered the run line in each of their last 11 day games following a road win.
The Nationals have failed to cover the run line in six of their last seven home games against NL East opponents.
The Braves have led after 5 innings in six of their last eight road games.

Total Runs Facts

Seven of the last eight games between the Braves and Nationals at Nationals Park have gone OVER the total runs line.
Each of the Braves’ last three games have gone OVER the total runs line.
The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Braves’ last nine games as road favorites.
The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the last four games between the Braves and Nationals.

Washington Nationals Player Prop Facts

CJ Abrams has hit a home run in three of the Nationals’ last nine day games.
Jacob Young has recorded at least one hit in each of his last seven appearances with the Nationals as home underdogs.
Nasim Nunez ranks T2nd in the league in Steals (10) this season.

Atlanta Braves Player Prop Facts

Matt Olson has hit a home run in four of the Braves’ last five day games against NL East opponents that held a losing record.
Dominic Smith has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 13 appearances against NL East opponents.
Drake Baldwin ranks T1st in the league in Hits (33) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

The Nationals rank 30th in the league for home runs allowed this season (46).
The Nationals rank 30th in the league for hits allowed this season (240).
The Braves rank 1st in the league for runs scored this season (143).
The Braves rank 1st in the league for hits this season (234).

Braves vs Nationals Prediction

The Braves are 8-2 in their last 10 meetings against the Nationals and are 6-1 in their last 7 visits in Washington.

In this Braves vs Nationals Prediction, the Braves are coming as -135 road favorites. The Braves bounced back yesterday but I don’t trust a newcomer on the mound against the Nats’ second-best offense. I have to take the over once again today, as all three games of this series have gone way over, with 13, 15 and 14 total runs and those two teams are the best in baseball in runs scored and Washington is 26th in bullpen ERA. Take the over 9 in this one.