Braves at Nationals Prediction: Odds, expert picks, starting pitchers, betting trends, and stats for May 22

Braves at Nationals Prediction: Odds, expert picks, starting pitchers, betting trends, and stats for May 22

It’s Thursday, May 22, and the Braves (24-24) are in Washington to take on the Nationals (22-27). AJ Smith-Shawver is slated to take the mound for Atlanta against Trevor Williams for Washington.

Yesterday’s game was postponed due to rain.

Washington won Game 1 of the series, 5-3, thanks to Dylan Crews, who helped give the Nationals the lead in the second inning prior to leaving the game early with an injury.

The Braves have gone 3-3 in their last six games, but 6-4 in their previous 10. Meanwhile, the Nationals are .500 in their last 10 games and 2.5 games behind the Braves in the NL East.

Lets dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.

We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch tipoff, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.

Follow Rotoworld Player News for the latest fantasy and betting player news and analysis all season long.

Game details & how to watch Braves at Nationals

• Date: Thursday, May 22, 2025
• Time: 6:45 PM EST
• Site: Nationals Park
• City: Washington, DC
• Network/Streaming: MASN2, FanDuel Sports Network South, FanDuel Sports Network SOutheast

Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.

Odds for the Braves at the Nationals

The latest odds as of Thursday:

• Moneyline: Braves (-154), Nationals (+129)
• Spread: Braves -1.5
• Total: 8.0 runs

Probable starting pitchers for Braves at Nationals

• Pitching matchup for May 22, 2025: AJ Smith-Shawver vs. Trevor Williams
  • Braves: AJ Smith-Shawver, (3-2, 2.33 ERA)
    Last outing: 6.0 Innings Pitched, 1 Earned Runs Allowed, 2 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 6 Strikeouts
  • Nationals: Trevor Williams, (2-5, 5.91 ERA)
    Last outing: 4.1 Innings Pitched, 3 Earned Runs Allowed, 5 Hits Allowed, 0 Walks, and 4 Strikeouts

Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!

Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Braves at Nationals

• The Nationals have a losing record (7-11) in divisional matchups this season
• The Under is 4-0-1 in the Nationals’ last 5 matchups against divisional opponents
• The Nationals have covered in 4 of their last 5 games showing a profit of 1.84 units

If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!

Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Braves and the Nationals

Rotoworld Best Bet

Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.

Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.

Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.

Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Thursday’s game between the Braves and the Nationals:

• Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Atlanta Braves on the Moneyline.
• Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Washington Nationals at +1.5.
• Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 8.0.

Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC

Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:

• Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
• Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
• Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
• Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)