Joe Ross has been diagnosed with a partial UCL tear in his pitching arm, Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez announced per Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports. Ross has been placed on the 10-day disabled list and will be re-evaluated to determine if Tommy John surgery is necessary.
Ross experienced tightness in his forearm after throwing a regular bullpen session Saturday, per Zuckerman. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017, and given his history he underwent an MRI during last night’s game.
This could potentially be brutal blow for the 28-year old Ross and the Nationals. After recovering from his first Tommy John surgery, Ross split time out of bullpen and as a starter in 2019 as he regained his controlled. He appeared in 27 games, starting nine.
After opting out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, Ross had settled in as part of the Nationals’ starting rotation. It was a rotation that consisted of Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, Stephen Strasburg, Jon Lester and Ross.
With Ross going on the IL, only Corbin remains on the active roster. Strasburg is out for the season with a neck injury. Scherzer was traded to the Dodgers and Lester to the Cardinals.
With the recent fire sale, Ross had emerged as one of the veteran arms on the roster. He pitched the best game of his career in June when he threw eight shutout innings against the Giants. Now, he may face a long road to recovery depending on the outcome of his second evaluation.
This season, Joe Ross has started 19 games. He has posted a 5-9 record with a 4.17 ERA in 108.1 innings pitched. He also has a career-best 1.222 WHIP and 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
The Nationals recalled outfielder Lane Thomas, who the team acquired from the Cardinals in the Lester trade.
