Washington's bullpen has been one of the worst in the sport all year and hasn't strung together a winning month since May, which puts even more weight on Cavalli going deep. On the other side, James Wood and CJ Abrams have been the two bright spots of this rebuild, giving the Nationals a middle of the order that can punish mistakes even against a heavy favorite.
Los Angeles has won 2 straight, including a win over these same Nationals, while Washington has dropped 2 in a row after that split with the Braves. Neither club's recent form is a mystery — the Dodgers are simply the deeper team, Ohtani or not, and Washington is still playing out the string on a season that hasn't gone the way the offense's overperformance early on suggested it might.
Keibert Ruiz's absence behind the plate adds another dent to a Nationals lineup already without several arms for the year, while the Dodgers are simply managing symptoms with their franchise player rather than shutting him down. Both clubs enter this one banged up in different ways — one from a long rebuild, the other from grinding through a 162-game marathon with a loaded but taxed roster.