5 Pitchers that can fill the 4th spot in the Pitching Rotation

When the 2020 season ended, we all knew that the Washington Nationals would most likely decline its club option for Anibal Sanchez, opening a spot on an already impressive starting pitching rotation.

Here are some of our thoughts on who the Washington Nationals should go after.

Robbie Ray

Recently, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports Washington suggested that the Washington Nationals go after left-hander Robbie Ray. In the article, Zuckerman lays out the Nationals likely interest level: "Moderate. Way back in December 2013, the Nationals acquired Doug Fister from the Tigers for Steve Lombardozzi, Ian Krol, and a young pitching prospect. At the time, Rizzo was most disappointed about losing that prospect, and former Detroit GM Dave Dombrowski was most excited about acquiring him. That prospect was Robbie Ray, who went on to be an All-Star for the Diamondbacks in 2017. He's been wildly inconsistent since, with one of the highest walk rates in the majors. But he also strikes out a ton of batters. And Rizzo knows him. So perhaps a reunion is possible."

Trevor Bauer

Last month, we laid out some of the reasons why we think that Trevor Bauer would be a good fit for the Nationals.

From the article: "Bauer has an impressive resume over his past couple of years on the mound. Since 2017, the Southern California product has pitched to a respectable 3.46 ERA, good for 22nd in baseball over that span.

Additionally, in 2018 he finished in the top 10 in Cy Young voting and a solid 2019. In 2019, Bauer, while playing for two different teams (Cleveland and Cinniciantti), finished with a win-loss record of 11-13, but his ERA was pretty high with a 4.48 in 213 innings pitched. On November 4, 2020, Bauer made it official via his agent to test free agency by rejecting the Cincinnati Reds qualifying offer.

Marcus Stroman

Marcus Stroman is an exciting choice. However, for this to happen, Stroman will have to reject the New York Mets qualifying offer offered to him on November 1, 2020. Stroman was drafted in the first round, 22 overall in the 2012 amateur draft out of Duke University.

Stroman 29 was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays on July 28, 2019. In late 2019, Stroman went 4-2 with a 3.77 ERRA in 11 starts for the New York Mets, and he opted out of the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic. The New York Mets made an $18.9 million qualifying offer above his market value of $16,443,848 via Sportrac.com.

Masahiro Tanaka

In a shortened season, Masahiro Tanaka played well. At age 31, Tenaka had a winning record of 13-11. However, Tanaka had a high ERA of 4.75, 167 strikeouts, and only 36 home runs. Tanaka is good enough to be considered an ace on any other team and fit well with an already strong pitching rotation. It might be good for him because he will not have a lot of external pressure, and being in the spotlight, Tanaka can focus on pitching.

Jon Lester

Another exciting option for the Nationals to look at is southpaw Jon Lester. Lester has been a powerhouse, and at age 36, he might be willing to take a one-year deal at a lesser amount of money so that the Nationals can focus on other spots that they need to fill.

During the 2020 season, Lester went 3-3 with an ERA of 5.16. Lester pitched a total of 61 innings, struck out 42. and played in 12 games during the season. During his 15 year career, Lester has had solid performances. During the regular season, Lester has a win-loss record of 193 - 11 with an ERA of 3.60. During his 15 year career, Lester has a reliable performance during the playoffs. Lester, in total, has appeared in 17 playoff series, gone 9-7, a win-loss percentage of .563, and an ERA of 2.51.