WASHINGTON -- Joe Ross made his Major League debut against the Cubs back in the summer of 2015 at Nationals Park. So it is appropriate that he will also be facing Chicago on Friday night -- for what he called his "second debut" -- when he makes his first start since he underwent Tommy John surgery 14 months ago.
"Just kind of compete," Ross said about his goal for Friday's start. "Go throw strikes and do what I've always done ... challenge batters. The last thing I want to do is kind of get that high pitch count early on in the game, so just be aggressive and try to get outs and trust the defense."
Ross last pitched in the Majors in July 2017 before having surgery and beginning the long road back to Washington. He made six Minor League rehab starts this season, going 2-1 with a 2.39 ERA. Before the injury, Ross had established himself as a solid middle-of-the-rotation starting pitcher with the Nationals, posting a 3.95 ERA in 48 games (45 starts) since his debut in 2015.
Ross was activated from the disabled list this week as part of the team's September roster callups and inserted into the rotation in place of right-hander Jefry Rodriguez, who was moved to the bullpen in order to limit his innings. The Nats will have a surplus of starting pitchers available in September, between Ross, Erick Fedde, who also came off the DL this week, Kyle McGowin and Jeremy Hellickson, who is working his way back from a wrist injury.
Washington will have two rotation spots open for 2019, and this final month could be a chance for the team to see how some of those young arms fit into the mix next year.
"Obviously, No. 1 is being healthy," Ross said. "As long as I can finish the rest of this year and feel good and strong, then that's fine with me. But inside, I want to compete, and when I go out and pitch, I'm going to try to win the game. It's not really a try and prove my worth to the team for the last 30 days. I just want to go out there and win a game."
Holland settling into role with Nats
After a rough start to the season with the Cardinals, Greg Holland has turned around his campaign since signing with the Nationals in August. In 14 appearances with Washington entering Thursday, Holland has given up one run on five hits with 13 strikeouts and five walks across 12 innings.
It has helped prove that Holland, who will turn 33 in November, can still be an effective relief pitcher. He posted a 7.92 ERA in 32 games for the Cardinals after signing with St. Louis late in Spring Training.
"For the most part, I've been throwing a lot more strikes than I was earlier in the year," Holland said. "I think being able to be consistent in my delivery has helped a lot. It's kind of like hitting the reset button for me, too, the chance to kind of start over. That helped a lot."

The Nats also made two adjustments with Holland.
First, they tweaked his delivery slightly. Pitching coach Derek Lilliquist helped align his hips slightly to make sure they remained even with home plate consistently. Lilliquist believed Holland was showing hitters the ball too early, and this tweak helped alter his timing. Holland credits that adjustment to why he has thrown more strikes in the past month than he had all season, going from 7.9 walks per nine innings with the Cardinals to 3.8 with the Nats.
Washington also urged Holland to utilize his fastball more frequently. After throwing his four-seam fastball 43.1 percent of the time in St. Louis, Holland is tossing it 46.6 percent of the time for the Nationals -- a small uptick, but a significant one. That number is more in line with the frequency in which Holland used his fastball in Colorado last season, when he was an All-Star.
His fastball usage had dipped as his velocity dropped after coming back from Tommy John surgery, and Holland basically swapped his fastball for his slider. But the Nats believed he could improve by throwing more fastballs, an assessment that has been correct so far.
"As a pitcher, you might do it subconsciously," Holland said. "Throw a certain pitch and have bad results with it, your natural inclination is to kind of shy away from it and try something different. I didn't realize that I had been using it less and less and less. So I kind of had to get back to what my percentages were when I'm healthy and doing well."
Worth noting
Ryan Zimmerman was out of the Nationals' starting lineup on Thursday after he slid headfirst into home plate to score a run on Wednesday night. Manager Dave Martinez said Zimmerman is fine and getting a day off, but Zimmerman admitted after the game that he was a bit sore following the play.

"Not bad. Not great, but not bad," Zimmerman said Wednesday. "That's the only way to slide and be safe. If I slide feet first, I'm probably not safe. But it's not too bad."