Washington Nationals: Joe Ross and Erick Fedde Impress on Thursday

A couple of the Washington Nationals top young arms, Joe Ross and Erick Fedde, pitched in the minors on Thursday.  We take a look at how they performed.

Although the Washington Nationals did not play on Thursday, there were still some meaningful games played within the organization.

Joe Ross got the start for the Syracuse Chiefs, and Erick Fedde got the start for the Harrisburg Senators.  Despite the fact that both the Chiefs and Senators lost, Ross and Fedde both performed exceptionally well.

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Ross, who is currently pitching in Triple-A until the Nats need a fifth starting pitcher, has now started two games for the Chiefs.  His first start was less than optimal, especially for a major league pitcher pitching in the minors.  He lasted just 2.2 innings and allowed three earned runs.

He looked a lot more like the Joe Ross all Nats fans know and love on Thursday against the Pawtucket Red Sox.  In seven innings, he only allowed one run and struck out six.  He also had great control, throwing 60 strikes out of his 85 pitches.

Ross’ signature pitch, his slider, was on full display during his second outing of 2017.  According to Brooks Baseball, he threw his slider 38.1% of the time in 2016, and batters hit just .185 off of the pitch.

All in all, Ross had a great outing for Syracuse, in what could quite possibly be his last start before getting called back up to the majors.  The Nats don’t need a fifth starter until April 22, but Ross is on track to pitch again on April 18, so he could come up early.

Top pitching prospect, Erick Fedde also pitched exceptionally well on Thursday.  He impressed during his first big league Spring Training, and has gotten off to a fantastic start while pitching for the Nats’ Double-A affiliate, Harrisburg Senators.

After an impressive season debut on April 8, Fedde performed well once again on Thursday against the Bowie Baysox, almost spoiling their home opener.

He only allowed three hits and struck out four over six shutout innings.  He also showed extreme maturity in times of adversity, and showed why the Nats think so highly of him.

In the bottom of the fifth, he walked the leadoff batter, usually a sure way to get into trouble.  After the leadoff walk, a ground ball went right underneath the shortstop’s glove, leaving runners at first and second with no outs.  Fedde was then able to induce another ground ball, but the third baseman booted an easy double play opportunity and had to settle for the out at first.

With runners at second and third and only one out, Fedde buckled down and managed to get out of the inning unscathed after a pop out to first base and a ground out.  The defense technically did not commit any errors during this inning, but they certainly did not do Fedde any favors.  These are mistakes that will not happen most of the time with a major league defense.

In addition to poor defense, the umpire also hurt Fedde a bit.  According to the radio broadcasters, there were several balls during the fifth inning alone that should’ve been called strikes.  Fedde did a great job of staying composed while his defense let him down and he wasn’t getting many calls.

If Fedde continues to develop and display maturity, he will most likely find himself pitching for the Nationals at some point this season.  He has gotten off to a great start to the 2017 season, allowing just seven hits in 11 shutout innings.

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Ross and Fedde both performed well on Thursday, and are two of the brightest young arms in the Nationals organization.  Ross is all but guaranteed to be the Nats’ fifth starter, but if Fedde continues to pitch well, he could join Ross in D.C. in the case of an injury to a starting pitcher.  Both pitchers have gotten off to impressive starts in 2017, which is promising, especially considering that the Nats used ten different starting pitchers to get through the 2016 season.