Washington Nationals: A.J. Cole’s role in 2018 a mystery
A.J. Cole finally solidified his spot on the Washington Nationals 25 man roster. But how will the Nationals utilize him in the 2018 season?
For the majority of his major league career, Washington Nationals pitcher A.J. Cole has seen nothing but the minor leagues.
He has pitched 824 innings throughout the minor leagues between the Washington and Oakland farm systems. Cole has 99.2 innings of major league experience, all with the Nationals.
Cole’s 2017 campaign in the majors was his best, although that is not saying much. He pitched to a tune of a 3.81 ERA (but a 5.20 FIP) and only produced a 0.1 WAR. His strikeout rate saw a significant dip and his walk rate increased to 4.67 batters per nine innings. On the bright side, he pitched twice as many innings in 2017 (52.0) than he did in 2015 and 2016 combined (47.2) and he increased his groundball rate to 44 percent.
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Cole will be 26 by the start of next season, and it will be his eighth year with the Nationals organization. With Joe Ross out for most of, if not all of the 2018 season and pitchers Edwin Jackson and Joe Blanton slated for free agency, Cole will spend most of his season in D.C and take on a new responsibility. But what will that be?
The most obvious role for Cole would be to fill the 5th starter spot in the Nationals’ dynamic rotation. With Joe Ross out for the year, somebody has to fill that spot. As Drew Douglas mentioned in his piece on Monday, Cole is a candidate to take that place.
If there were a time for the Nationals to unleash Cole, 2018 would be the time. He has proven to be a source of consistency. In eight starts last season, Cole went five or more innings in each, and six innings in three of them. He gave up more than three earned runs only twice in those eight starts. Cole’s 3-5 record as a starter is a bit deceiving. Washington’s offense provided Cole an average of 5.3 runs per game in his three wins, but a putrid 1.8 runs per game in his five losses.
There are two other possible roles for Cole, both involving the bullpen. The first of these options is to assume the role of the long reliever. He would also be able to make spot starts when needed. It would be the role Yusmeiro Petit provided for the Nats (albeit not well) in 2016.
In his major-league career, Cole has faced 58 batters out of the bullpen. He has held them to a .204 batting average allowed and a .616 OPS allowed. Keep in mind the limited sample, but that is drastically better than his numbers as a starter (383 batters faced, .275 BAA, .821 OPS allowed).
The Nationals could instead make Cole a right-handed batter specialist. This scenario might occur if the Nats aren’t sold on Cole’s prospects on being a starter and would instead use those innings on either a free agent or prospects such as Erick Fedde.
Cole’s strong suit while on the mound is keeping right-handed batters in check. He held them to a .188 BAA and a .268 weighted on-base average (wOBA). By doing this, Cole would (for the most part) avoid left-handed batters, to which he allowed a .320 batting average and a .414 wOBA.
The Nationals used a 4th round pick on Cole in 2010, and then re-acquired him from Oakland in 2013. They indeed believe in his talent. With an opportunity in front of him to succeed, can Cole prove them right in 2018?