Ross recalled, Sanchez sent to Double-A; Nats prep for Keuchel

Nationals manager Davey Martinez confirmed this afternoon that right-hander Joe Ross was on a flight today, heading to D.C. to presumably be the starting pitcher against the Braves on Sunday.

But the story was adjusted a bit an hour later when the club announced that Ross was officially recalled from Triple-A Fresno prior to Friday's series opener. Infielder Adrián Sanchez was optioned to Double-A Harrisburg.

Ross will be available out of a taxed bullpen tonight.

Sean Doolittle, Tanner Rainey, Wander Suero and Javy Guerra have all pitched each of the last two days. This problem arose with the rainouts early in the week that forced a doubleheader Wednesday. Then Erick Fedde could not make it through the fourth inning in last night's 7-4 win over the Phillies. The Nats ended up using five relievers last night.

If Ross is used in tonight's game, the Nats will have to figure out an alternate plan for a starter on Sunday. But the Nats recognize the importance of this series against the Braves, who have surged to the top spot in the National League East. Atlanta has won four straight series. Their only series losses since May 27 have been against the Pirates and the Nats.

"TBA, TBA," said Martinez when asked about Ross's potential Sunday start.

Reporters spoke to Martinez prior to today's roster moves. The announcement was made about 80 minutes before first pitch, likely because the Nationals had to wait for Ross to arrive from his cross-country flight.

Ross made 16 appearances out of the bullpen this season with Washington from April 7 to May 24. But in the last few weeks with Triple-A Fresno, Ross has made four starts from May 31 to June 17. The Nationals ramped him up from three to four to five innings in those first three starts, and then another five-inning start on Monday against Omaha.

In that start, Ross threw five shutout innings, allowing two hits, one walk and two hit batters with four strikeouts. He threw 57 pitches, 35 for strikes.

* Veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel makes his 2019 debut tonight with his new team, the Braves, against Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg. Keuchel's last major league start was during the postseason on Oct. 16, 2018, for the Astros against the Red Sox.

Keuchel made two minor league starts, June 10 for low Single-A Rome and June 15 for Double-A Mississippi, going 0-0 with a 1.93 ERA with 13 strikeouts.

"There's no film per se, but we had some people on him, Martinez said. "He's a veteran guy. We know how he's going to want to pitch. But we can't chase, we got to get in the strike zone. The biggest thing is not to chase."

Meanwhile, Martinez doesn't expect Strasburg to get more amped up facing the Braves and Keuchel than he would for another opponent or scenario.

"I think Stephen is viewing this game just like he would any other game," Martinez said. "He's just as competitive as Max (Scherzer). He does his due diligence between starts. He's always up for the task."

Strasburg pitched seven innings May 28 at Atlanta, allowing two earned runs on five hits with two walks and 11 strikeouts. The Nats won 5-4.