Washington Nationals avoid arbitration with Joe Ross, agree on one-year deal for 2019...

While working his way back from Tommy John surgery last summer, Joe Ross earned a total of $567,900, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Ross, 25, was arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter, but Washington’s Nationals and the right-handed starter avoided arbitration tonight, ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s deadline for teams and players to submit figures for 2019.

Ross made six starts in the Nats’ system in 2018 and three in the majors in September, with a 5.06 ERA, a 5.86 FIP, 2.25 BB/9, 3.94 K/9, and a .274/.338/.532 line against in 16 innings in the Nationals’ rotation which left him with a 4.01 ERA overall, a 4.02 FIP, 2.45 BB/9, 7.86 K/9 and a .260/.319/.427 line against in 268 1⁄3 IP thus far in his big league career.

“He’s got to come back to Spring Training and work his way back,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters at Winterfest this past December after getting a good look at Ross in the final month of the season.

“I like what I saw, I did, but he’s got to build stamina. What he showed me is that three or four innings, that third time around, his velo went down significantly, so we’ve got to get him consistent, and get him through that third time around the order.”

Ross will be limited in his first full season back following surgery, though the Nationals have (having learned their lesson... probably) not yet publicly outlined a strategy for how he’ll be handled in the upcoming season, with Rizzo saying only that the righty will, “... be in Year 1 post Tommy John protocol as we have here with the Nationals,” while adding that the Nats are, “looking for big things from Joe and hopefully we can manage those innings correctly and he can really be a factor for us,” when the GM talked to 106.7 the FAN in D.C.’s Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier about Ross this past September.

Ross is going to be battling for the fifth spot in the Nationals’ rotation this Spring, behind Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, Stephen Strasburg, and Aníbal Sánchez.

Terms of Ross’s deal for 2019 weren’t officially announced, though there is some as-yet unconmfirmed reporting on what he’ll earn this season...