With rotation spot available, Cole adding weight and strength for long run

The major league debut for right-hander A.J. Cole did not go as well as he might have envisioned. That night at Turner Field certainly did not demonstrate the capabilities the laser-throwing prospect had shown at the minor league level.

In his April 28 debut at Atlanta, Cole registered two innings and allowed nine runs, four them earned on nine hits, with one walk, one strikeout on 55 pitches.

"The way I look at it is it's good to get up there and get the feel for it. I went down and had a couple of hard outings up there and you get to see what you need to work on," Cole said at Winterfest on Sunday. "You get a little taste of it and say, 'Hey, OK, now I need to work on this.' It's nice to being able to get a feel for it and then work everything on it."

This offseason, Cole said he has changed where he trains and, more importantly, has decided to try to add weight to his 6-foot-5, 200-lb. frame.

"I found a new workout place and I'm really getting into that trying to put on weight to get ready for spring training," Cole said. "Just to keep up stamina because a lot of times you drop weight once you go into spring training. So I just kind of wanted to get a little more weight and help the body out a little bit.

"I've always wanted to put on the weight, I've just never been able to really keep it on or just add it. It just comes right off. I've tried a lot of different things."

So when you are only 23 and you have always been thin, how do you alter your physical makeup and make sure it's good weight and strength you're adding? Cole said nutrition is the critical component.

"Trying to eat a lot," he said. "Any type of protein you can add to it. But they said a lot of times, it'll just come with age. I've finally been able to put on the weight. I found a nutritionist this year. He's watching the food intake - calories, things like that. It's been working so far."

Nationals assistant general manager and vice president for player personnel Doug Harris said the type of strength that the Nats believe Cole will add this offseason comes with his natural growth for his age.

But they also feel this early attention to strength and weight training will help Cole hit the ground running leading up to his February report date.

"I think he's at a point in his development, from a physical standpoint, (where) he's starting to put on some mature muscle mass," Harris said. "He's kind of historically a little bit of a slow starter. Kind of taking a different approach to his offseason, getting him out of the gate a little quicker. He's done a great job with it."

Cole has always been able to bring the velocity with his four-seam fastball, hitting mid-90s mph consistently.

Does he believe the added weight will help or hinder that velocity on his fastball?

"You never know. Sometimes it could help somebody gain velocity," Cole said. "Sometimes you heard its had people lose velocity. But at the same time I'm not just putting on the weight of bad weight or anything like that. I'm always keeping the stretching and mobility."

Cole said it also helps to just be in the Nationals clubhouse during the season and glean valuable pitching strategy from some of the best starters in the league.

"I started listening to the guys talk," Cole said. "You pick their ear every once and awhile. We have a lot of great guys on this staff, Gio (Gonzalez), (Max) Scherzer. I learned by watching a lot of times. I don't always have to ask and talk and then every now and then ask them, get little hints about how they approach certain guys."

One focal point for Cole that he has consistently worked on during his young career is a mechanical issue in his delivery.

"There was a glitch and I couldn't figure it out at first," Cole said. "And then I got it down. I really feel like from here on, I'll be good. Working on the little things. Mobility, strength, everything like that."

Harris said the issue dealt with Cole's arm action and maintaining consistency in his check points.

"This thing really goes back to early on when we had him and throughout the process when we traded him and got him back," Harris said. "There's a little thing with his arm action that is kind of a checkpoint for him.

"All pitchers have these things, certain checkpoints within their deliveries or arm actions and his is keeping him within that. He gets a little deep with his arm action, gets a little bit of one piece with it. He's starting to understand that and be able to maintenance a little bit better."

Adding strength and building consistency from that first major league experience will help Cole make that next step this season. And it could be a giant step, with rotation vacancies left by the departures of Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister.

The opportunity is right there for Cole and he has the tools to deliver. Now he just needs to seize that moment.