Do Nats need to restrict Ross and Fedde's workloads in 2019?

LAS VEGAS - The Nationals got the frontline starter they've long coveted last week when they doled out $140 million to sign Patrick Corbin. Might they still be in the market for some back-of-the-rotation help, though?

The Nationals, as currently constructed, have four locks to make their opening day rotation (assuming health for all those involved), with Corbin joining ace Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Tanner Roark. The fifth spot, for now, would go to either Joe Ross or Erick Fedde, both promising young right-handers with injury histories and no long-term track records.

General manager Mike Rizzo has said he's comfortable moving forward with that group, as is. He also always adds that he's never not looking for more pitching.

So, in the wake of the Corbin signing, are the Nationals still aggressively seeking more rotation help?

"It lessens our desperation for a starting pitcher," Rizzo said Monday on "MASN All-Access." "But we're never done. Starting pitching is the currency of MLB, in my mind. That's how you win games. A guy on the mound who gives you a chance to win every single day is, I think, the best strategy to win in a 162-game season. So we're never done trying to acquire talent."

Among the biggest questions the Nationals must answer internally is what they realistically expect from Ross and Fedde in 2019. In a perfect world, one or both would step up and seize the opportunity. But given their respective track records, the Nats can't assume it'll happen.

Ross probably has a slight leg-up on Fedde, based on experience (48 career major league starts to 14) and success (3.52 ERA in 2015-16, before he tore his elbow ligament). But the 25-year-old is no sure thing.

Ross was erratic in his late-season return from Tommy John surgery this season, allowing nine earned runs and 17 hits in 16 innings spread across three starts. Moreover, he hasn't topped 118 1/3 innings pitched in any of the last three seasons, so the Nationals are going to have to place some restrictions on his workload in 2019.

Fedde, who had Tommy John surgery days before the Nationals selected him in the first round of the 2014 draft, threw a career-high 121 2/3 innings this season but also spent two months on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation.

"They both had Tommy John surgery. Which you could say about half the starting pitchers in Major League Baseball," Rizzo said. "We've got our Tommy John protocol. Fedde, there's no limitation on him. Joe Ross, we'll be a little more careful with him. We can't pack too many more innings on him than he had last year. But both of those pitchers are going to compete for the rotation in 2019. It's good to have that kind of depth."

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