Ross admits feeling discomfort in shoulder

Manager Dusty Baker said the Nationals decided to place right-hander Joe Ross on the disabled list when they got the results of an MRI on his right shoulder after Saturday's loss to the Reds.

"He had some inflammation," Baker said. "We were limiting his innings in the first place. We wanted to make sure Joe is gonna be ready toward the end of the season and we didn't have to shut him down like (Stephen) Strasburg, because this guy can come up big in postseason."

Ross watched as his velocity dipped against the Reds. He surrendered four runs on six hits in the first two innings Saturday.

"We saw his velocity go down on the radar gun," Baker said. "We asked him to tell us the truth, and he did. He said he was feeling some discomfort. They took him this morning to get an MRI, and they said he had some inflammation. So we're gonna try to quiet it down. Fortunately for us, we have Giolito there to take his place. That's what went into the decision. Joe's a valuable piece of this team for a long time."

Ross talked about how he felt pain-wise as he heads to the DL for the first time in his career.

"I feel okay," Ross said. "Just got a little inflammation and hopefully I can skip this next start, and with the break, get enough time to be back."

Ross doesn't believe he has had the inflammation in his shoulder for that many games. It is something that has crept up recently. He is up to 95 1/3 innings this season and has only thrown 172 innings total in his first two seasons in the bigs.

"I feel like it hasn't been long," Ross said of the inflammation issue. "But it's never feeling hundred percent all of the time. Just kinda working through it and it bothered me a little bit yesterday. I feel like my command was kinda spraying around. Just get it taken care of, it should be alright."

And just like any young pitcher who never wants to step back from a challenge, Ross admitted it was tough to tell Baker he wasn't 100 percent.

"Yeah. You wanna compete, you wanna be out there, you wanna help your team win," Ross said. "It's not fun. It's already hard enough sitting for four days between starts, [to] skip that fifth one is pretty tough. It's gonna be the most beneficial for me health-wise and for the team. Just keep it honest with him, and he'll shoot it straight with me."

Ross has gone 7-4 with a 3.49 ERA in 16 starts this season.