Joe Ross wasn’t on anybody’s radar when the season began, barely even known by members of the Nationals major-league coaching staff. He was “The Other Guy Acquired in the Trea Turner Deal,” a young right-hander with some upside but not a pitcher who figured into the picture in 2015.
Which makes Thursday’s events all the more remarkable. Needing to remove somebody from their current rotation to open a slot for Stephen Strasburg in his return from an oblique strain, the Nationals elected to move struggling veteran Doug Fister to their bullpen, sticking with Ross as one of their five starters for the stretch run of a pennant race.