Upon calling Joe Ross up from Triple-A earlier this month, Nationals’ skipper Davey Martinez talked with reporters about how the 25-year-old righty, who had started exclusively over the previous three seasons, after debuting in the majors with 16 appearances, 13 of them starts, back in 2015, would be used out of Washington’s bullpen for the foreseeable future.
“I spoke to Joe and he’s a reliever,” Martinez said, “and he’s going to come out and he’s going to pitch. I told him there are going to be some days when he comes out and just pitches one inning, and if we deem it necessary where he can pitch a couple innings it would be great, but he’s a reliever, and he’s going to pitch, and he’s all for it.