Marlins vs. Nationals: Start time, how to watch, game thread and Fish Picks—August 21, 2020

Welcome to Friday’s Marlins (9-9) vs. Nationals (9-12) game thread. Both teams just had off days, though the Marlins’ one was the product of an unfortunate COVID-19 flare-up.

Fish Picks is BACK and better than ever! Our free-to-play daily prop bets contest is open to all fans. Courtesy of a new Fish Stripes partnership with Fantom Drip, weekly points leaders will win their choice of a Marlins face covering (five different varieties available) or the exclusive Fish Stripes design.

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Marlins Lineup

1. 2B Jonathan Villar
2. 1B Jesús Aguilar
3. C Francisco Cervelli
4. 3B Brian Anderson
5. DH Jorge Alfaro
6. LF Corey Dickerson
7. CF Lewis Brinson
8. RF Jesús Sánchez
9. SS Miguel Rojas

P Elieser Hernandez (1.84 ERA, 2.28 FIP, 33.3 K%, 29.4 Hard Hit% in 14.2 IP)

Baseball Savant

Notes: The Marlins active roster is much-improved over the last 48 hours. Rojas’ return and Jesús Sánchez’s call-up were first reported on Thursday. On top of that, Alfaro now combines with Francisco Cervelli to form a great catching tandem, and Richard Bleier brings the bullpen closer to respectability. It’s frustrating to see Monte Harrison optioned after only 33 plate appearances, but his ghastly 54.5% strikeout rate gave the club little choice...Congratulations to Eddy Alvarez and Gaby Pearson! Their first child is being born today...Read up on Sánchez—his background, skill set and our expectations for him—here.

Nationals Lineup

1. SS Trea Turner
2. RF Adam Eaton
3. LF Juan Soto
4. 1B Asdrúbal Cabrera
5. 2B Luis García
6. C Yan Gomes
7. DH Eric Thames
8. 3B Carter Kieboom
9. CF Víctor Robles

P Patrick Corbin (3.91 ERA, 3.47 FIP, 22.9 K%, 38.6 Hard Hit% in 23.0 IP)

Baseball Savant

Notes: Corbin thrived against the Fish in 2019, the first season of his Nationals contract. That included his only complete-game shutout of the year and three other quality starts...After missing the first two weeks of this regular season for COVID-19 related reasons, Soto has made up for lost time, unequivocally establishing himself as the best hitter in the National League (.417/.500/.938, 267 wRC+ in 56 PA).

How to watch/listen/follow

First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET. Watch on FOX Sports Florida and via MLB.TV or listen on 940 WINZ.

Fish Picks

Please comment below or tweet to @fishstripes with your picks for the following props. The contest locks at the start of the first game.

1. Which team scores first? (Marlins/Nationals)
2. Over/Under 5.5 Elieser Hernandez strikeouts? (Over/Under)
3. Over/Under 4.5 Marlins runs? (Over/Under)
4. Will Jesús Sánchez get a hit? (Yes/No)
5. Who wins? (Marlins/Nationals)