Cole pushed back, Hellickson still in Florida

By Mark Zuckerman

Nationals

April 07, 2018, 9:02am

Comments

A.J. Cole will remain in the Nationals rotation for now. But he'll be pushed back a couple of days. With Jeremy Hellickson continuing to breathe down his neck.

Friday's off-day afforded the Nats the opportunity to adjust their rotation, and they've decided to have Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg remain on a five-day schedule and start Monday and Tuesday against the Braves.

Cole now will slot in behind Strasburg and start Wednesday's series finale against Atlanta, hoping for much better results than he experienced earlier this week at SunTrust Park when the Braves scored 10 runs off him in only 3 2/3 innings.

aj cole.jpg Despite that inauspicious season debut, Nationals manager Davey Martinez insisted there's no immediate plan to remove Cole from the rotation.

"We'll put Cole in the bullpen for (the next few days)," Martinez said. "But he's definitely the fifth starter. He's going to start (Wednesday). But for right now, we can use him out of the bullpen."

Whether Cole's status is secure beyond that remains to be seen, especially with Hellickson seemingly getting closer to big league ready.

Hellickson, who was signed to a minor league contract in late March, remains at extended spring training in West Palm Beach and is scheduled to throw 100 pitches today, according to Martinez. The Nationals chose to keep him in Florida instead of having him open the season with one of their minor league affiliates in cold-weather cities.