Nolin will get Sunday's start as Ross' rotation replacement

The Nationals didn't need to utilize a fifth starter until next weekend, but they've decided to go ahead and plug Sean Nolin into their rotation now.

Nolin, the 31-year-old left-hander who has been available out of the bullpen for the last week since making one spot start against the Mets, will start Sunday's series finale against the Brewers, manager Davey Martinez said.

Nolin takes over the rotation spot that opened up with Joe Ross had to be shut down for the rest of the season with a partially torn elbow ligament, an injury that won't require surgery for now but will keep Ross out until 2022.

Because of a pair of off-days this week sandwiched around their two-game series with the Blue Jays, plus another scheduled off-day Monday before they open a three-game series with the Marlins, the Nationals could've gone with a four-man rotation for another week. Patrick Corbin, Paolo Espino, Erick Fedde and Josiah Gray all could've continued to pitch on full rest.

But Martinez said they wanted to give Fedde an extra day of rest, so he'll be pushed back from a potential start Sunday in Milwaukee to Tuesday's series opener in Miami, and that opens the door for Nolin to take the mound against the Brewers.

A journeyman left-hander who went six years between big-league appearances, Nolin was called up from Triple-A Rochester to start an Aug. 12 doubleheader game against the Mets and gave up four runs and eight hits in only three innings. He spent the last week in the bullpen, the only lefty the Nats had down there after struggling rookie Sam Clay was optioned to Rochester.

Martinez has previously said Nolin is most likely to take over Ross' rotation spot on a regular basis, though he stopped short of committing to that this afternoon during his Zoom session with reporters.

"It can be," the manager said. "We've still got another day off coming up, two more days. We'll see how it plays out. But I wanted to give Sean an opportunity to start on Sunday, and that's what we're going to go with."

The Nationals don't really have any other obvious choices to make starts for them the rest of the season. With Ross and Stephen Strasburg injured, and Max Scherzer now pitching for the Dodgers, they're incredibly thin in rotation depth.

Nolin was selected because he had been the most effective member of the Rochester rotation, with a 3.80 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 11 games (nine starts). The next-best option would probably be right-hander Sterling Sharp, who has a 3.88 ERA in 12 starts but a hefty 1.56 WHIP thanks to 32 walks in only 55 2/3 innings.

The Red Wings' other starters haven't made much of a case for themselves, either: Ben Braymer (6.28 ERA, 1.61 WHIP), Tyler Eppler (7.68 ERA, 1.72 WHIP) and Josh Rogers (4.33 ERA, 1.32 WHIP).