Martinez excited for Joe Ross's return from Tommy John

For the first time in 14 months, right-hander Joe Ross will start a major league baseball game tonight against the Chicago Cubs. Ross is thrilled to be back from Tommy John rehab, and his manager shared his excitement during pregame Friday by talking about his returning starter after answering an opening question about the same day return of closer Sean Doolittle. "I'm more excited to see Joe Ross today," said Nationals manager Davey Martinez. "He worked really hard to get back. Gets a chance to start today so I'm excited about that." Ross has gone through six rehab assignments in the minor leagues since August 6, building pitches and innings with each start. "He's been up to 90, 95 pitches, let him go and see where he's at," said Martinez. "He'll dictate on his high leverage situations stuff like that what's going to happen. I'm expecting him to go out there and compete." Ross's last start was September 1 for Triple-A Syracuse against Buffalo. He tossed 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts in the 6-1 win. It was his second straight rehab game victory. "His last outing in Triple-A he pitched really, really well," Martinez noted. "I'm really excited and happy for him. Really happy for him that he's back and hopefully everything goes well for him today. The biggest thing is that he comes out of the game healthy." Ross pinpointed staying healthy as his No. 1 goal coming out of tonight's start. His skipper knows that the 25-year-old will be pumped up to pitch in a real regular season game for the first time since July 9, 2017 against the Braves at Nats Park. In that game he lasted only 3 1/3 innings and 63 pitches. So when you wait that long for the next game and you work that hard to recover from Tommy John, you can expect Ross to be fired up. "I think he's going to have some adrenalin," Martinez said. "He's really excited about being back out there in helping us to win a ball game. I really do. He's very competitive. I also asked him when was the last time he swung a bat? I heard you are a pretty good hitter. He said, 'I can hit.' " Ross said mentally the rehab time of 14 months was tough. It wore on him. He had times where anxiety crept in and he wondered if he would ever return. Or when he returned, would he be 100 healthy? Would he be able to hit mid-90's with his fastball again? Martinez empathizes with players when the rehab for so long away from the team. Doolittle said the disabled list can be a "very dark place". "Yeah, I mean those guys that go through Tommy John surgery even though a lot of them come out pretty successful, it's still worrisome," Martinez said. "And for him, I know he went through a lot. At one point his velo wasn't quite where it should be and now that came back. He went out and he said he couldn't do this or he couldn't do that and I told him 'hey, it's going to take time'. Just as long as you're healthy, everything comes back. You start facing hitters you'll be fine."