page_title: A. J. Cole
section_title: Washington Nationals (second stint)
hierarchical_section_title: A. J. Cole / Professional career / Washington Nationals (second stint)
caption_attribution_description: A. J. Cole
context_page_description: Andrew Jordan Cole is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. He previously played with the Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, and Cleveland Indians.
context_section_description: On January 16, 2013, Cole was traded back to Washington along with Blake Treinen and a player to be named later (later identified as Ian Krol) in a three-team trade that sent Michael Morse to the Seattle Mariners and John Jaso to Oakland. Cole pitched for the Potomac Nationals of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League, and was named to appear in the 2013 All-Star Futures Game. He was promoted to the Harrisburg Senators of the Class AA Eastern League during the season. In 2014, Cole began the year with Harrisburg, and received a promotion to the Syracuse Chiefs of the Class AAA International League. After the 2014 season, the Nationals added Cole to their 40-man roster.
  Cole opened the 2015 season as the Opening Day starting pitcher for Syracuse. The Nationals promoted Cole to the major leagues to make a start in place of Max Scherzer on April 28.; while Cole had a miserable outing, giving up nine runs in only two innings, he would get a no-decision after the Nationals, who had lost six straight, would come back to win the game 13-12, starting a span where they won 20 of 25 games and jumped from last to first in the NL East. Cole only appeared in two more games for the Nationals, both out of the bullpen, in 2015. He continued to make starts after being optioned back to Syracuse. While he was called up after rosters expanded in September, he did not pitch in another major league game before the end of the season.
  Cole spent the 2016 season again pitching in Syracuse's rotation. Working exclusively as a starter, he pitched to a 4.26 ERA (up by more than a full run from 2015) over 22 games, including two complete-game performances, before he was called up by the Nationals on August 18, 2016, to fill in as a reliever. Due to the Nationals' acquisition of closer Mark Melancon in July, who wears the number #43 as a Washington player, Cole exchanged his number #43 for #22 upon being called up. Cole was placed in the Nationals' rotation later in the month after Stephen Strasburg went on the disabled list. He notched his first career win on September 2, 2016, against the New York Mets, giving up just one earned run on three hits and two walks over six innings on the road. On September 26, Cole was ejected for the first time in his Major League career after throwing a pitch behind Jung-ho Kang. Thereafter, tempers flared with the benches clearing, but the Nationals nonetheless won 10-7 over the Pirates.
  Cole began the 2017 season with the Class AAA Syracuse Chiefs. The Nationals called him up on May 1 and he posted his first win of the year when the Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies on May 6, but the team optioned him back to Syracuse on May 12. The Nationals called him up again on June 18, but he did not appear in any games before the Nationals optioned him back to Syracuse on June 22. He was called up again on August 2 for a spot start against the Miami Marlins in a game the Marlins won 7–0 to clinch a series win; he took two more losses – to the Marlins again on August 8 and to the San Francisco Giants in the first game of a doubleheader on August 13 – and returned to Syracuse on August 15. The Nationals called him up for another spot start on August 25, this time against the New York Mets; although he gave up only one run in six innings and had a personal-best eight strikeouts, the Mets won the game 4–2, and he returned to Syracuse on August 27. The Nationals recalled him on September 4 to start against the Marlins that day, and he earned the win in a 7–2 Nationals victory. He finished out the regular season with the Nationals, appearing both as a starter and a reliever. He took the loss in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park on September 16, but on September 25 he started against the Phillies and outdueled Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola for the win, also notching his first career major-league hit when he singled up the middle off Nola. On September 30, Cole came into a game in long relief against the Pittsburgh Pirates and pitched 3​²⁄₃ no-hit innings, although the Nationals eventually lost despite his e
caption: Cole with the Nationals in 2016
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