When we wrote in the title of the “gamer” article that “Joe Ross is Back!” we were keeping it positive as he also pitched well 6 days ago for the Syracuse Chiefs. The Nationals spotted Joe Ross with 10 runs of support to add to the 52 runs he got in his last 3 starts. That set a record of 62 runs of support over a 4-game stretch.
The Nationals went long-ball in this game has Anthony Rendon had 2 home runs, Jayson Werth had one, and Bryce Harper added one on his statline. Ryan Zimmerman was 3-4 and Trea Turner had a single and a triple with RISP. Michael Taylor continues to improve his batting average with 2 more hits. In fact, every Nats starter including Joe Ross had at least one hit in this game.
Ross went 8 innings in the game and had the sinker and slider working with great movement. Ross was efficient as he induced two doubleplays in the game and finished with 101 pitches.
Seems Ross has really hit that wall. Fastball is missing and velo is way down. Only at 74 pitches.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) May 24, 2017
Nice play at the wall by Michael A. gets Ross out of the sixth with just one run. He's at 78 pitches. Looks like he's thrown 178, though.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) May 24, 2017
That first tweet by Chelsea Janes was posted in the 6th inning and it seemed Ross was pacing himself with a big lead. He stayed for the 7th and 8th innings and was very effective. Ross also threw 11 change-ups in the game including 5 for strikes. The slider looked great and was his swing & miss pitch all night.
The chart below shows each pitch type (sinker, changeup, slider) and what you will notice is Joe Ross’ two-speed slider was a weapon tonight. His two-seam fastball averaged 91.8 mph with a top speed of 94.9 but he also had some fastballs that lit the official radar gun at 89 mph.
The game looked like it could have been a rainout but luckily the umpires didn’t stop the game. The Nationals improve to 7-0 against the Mariners in Washington, D.C.