Washington Nationals News: Nats monitoring Joe Ross’ workload
By Pablo Roa
Good evening DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily. Get caught up on the latest Nats news and opinions with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.
In today’s Daily, the Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes discusses the Nationals’ plans for starter Joe Ross this season. As Janes writes, Ross has been one of the team’s most reliable pitchers this season, but the Nationals are monitoring his workload in his first full season as a big league starter.
While Ross has been healthy and consistent this season, he’s still just 23 years old and has seen his workload increase dramatically over the last two seasons. Given his age and the fact that he has never pitched more than 153 1/3 innings, manager Dusty Baker and the Nationals are going easy on his workload to ensure that he’s fresh down the stretch.
Here’s what Baker had to say about Ross’ workload, via Janes’ article:
"“We have to really watch Joe,” Baker said. “His innings are building up, as you can notice, he has the least amount of innings of our starters. We want to take him all the way through September, and hopefully into October.”"
Also in today’s Daily, MLB.com’s Jamal Collier discusses Nationals reliever Yusmeiro Petit, who earned the save in last night’s win over the Padres. As Collier writes, the save was rare for Petit but not unexpected, as the right-hander has arguably been the bullpen’s most versatile player this season.
Be sure to check out both articles below, they’re definitely worth a read. And as always, stay tuned to DoD for all you Washington Nationals needs.
Nationals are monitoring Joe Ross’s workload
(Chelsea Janes, Washington Post)
SAN DIEGO — Last week, Nationals Manager Dusty Baker called the emergence of Joe Ross the most pleasant surprise of this Nationals season. The Nationals kept an eye on the starting pitching market last offseason, he said, because they were not sure what they had in the 6-foot-4 right-hander. But so far, he has been exactly what he was last season — consistently strong, rarely rattled, almost forgotten in his stability.
But that Baker called him a “surprise” serves as a reminder of the fact that 23-year-olds are not generally so reliable. Ross is still young, still maturing, and still building arm strength. Read full article here.
Next: Washington Nationals Reaction: Nats’ division lead continues to grow
Save a rarity for Nationals’ Petit
SAN DIEGO — Yusmeiro Petit knew the bullpen was thin and Shawn Kelley, the Nationals interim closer while Jonathan Papelbon is on the disabled list, was not likely to be available after throwing in back-to-back games and in three of the past four games.
But Petit did not know that he would be called upon to seal the Nationals’ 7-5 victory against the Padres Friday night.
But as has been the case all season, Petit delivered when he was called on in whatever situation. Read full article here.