Nationals Pitcher Suffers Setback During Rehab

It appears that the 7th major league season for Washington Nationals starter Joe Ross is going to be delayed much longer than expected. Ross has been building up from an elbow problem, and was pulled from his first rehab start after just three innings with elbow tightness.

Joe Ross says the MRI he underwent yesterday showed “more of a sprain” of his elbow ligament than previous MRIs did. He’s going for further tests tomorrow before deciding a course of action.

— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) May 26, 2022

Ross said his latest MRI showed "more of a sprain" than previous MRIs had shown. More testing will be required before a course of action is determined.  

This is an especially troubling development, as Ross has already had Tommy John surgery on the elbow, in 2017. He missed almost the entire 2018 season, then after struggling to a 5.48 in 2019, he sat out 2020 due to the pandemic. 

Last season, he started to look like a contributor again for the Nats, starting 19 games and posting a 4.17 ERA, before being diagnosed with a partial tear in the UCL and missing the rest of the season. He had bone chips removed from the elbow this spring, but now his return is looking very uncertain.

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