At the beginning of this month, we shared five good pitchers that can fill the 4th pitching spot on the Washington Nationals rotation. However, things have moved fast over a couple of weeks since we wrote the article, so we thought we would update the article and provide some new ideas that can fit.

Before we get to our new suggestions, let's quickly go through some updates:

Robbie Ray -

Our original article suggested that Robbie Ray would be a good fit for the Nationals, and so did the Blue Jays. That is why on November 7, 2020, the Blue Jay's gave Ray a one-year contract worth $8MM, therefore, taking Ray out of the list of available free agents.

Marcus Stroman-

Out of all the pitchers that we profiled, we have to say that when the news came that Stroman accepted the $18.9 million in 2021 qualifying offer that the Mets gave him, we were disappointed. We felt that he would be a perfect fit for the Washington Nationals.

Trevor Bauer-

From the beginning, we thought it would be a long shot for the Washington Nationals to sign Trevor Bauer, but it became even less likely this week when he won a Cy Young Award. Since Bauer won the Cy Young Award, we think it will place him out of the reach of a contract type that both sides would agree.

Now that we removed three pitchers from our original five, we now need to add three new pitchers to our list. Here are some of our ideas:

Jordan Zimmermann

A reunion between the Washington Nationals and Jordan Zimmermann might be a perfect match. Our friends at District on Deck made an interesting argument on why it should happen, and it got us thinking what a great idea. From the article: "Maybe being on a winning team will relieve some of the pressure for Zimmermann. During his time in Detroit, the Tigers had just one winning season (the only season Zim had more wins than losses as well). During his five years away, the Nationals had a winning record four years and made the playoffs three times. While the players the Nationals are projected to sign are estimated to make something in the $8M-$10M per, range, Zimmermann can more than likely be had for a lot cheaper."

We like this idea a lot, and having a homegrown prospect return to the team that drafted him would be a great story. Additionally, we remember when Zimmermann returned for the first time when he played with the Tigers in May of 2011; the fans in the stand (including myself) gave him a standing ovation when he came to the plate and the mound for the first time. By the way, that was also the game that Max Scherzer struck out 20 batters in a single game.

Cole Hamels

Cole Hamels has played for various teams during his Major League career, including the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and the Atlanta Braves. Even though Hamels only pitched in three innings in the shortened COVID season, Hamels has experience pitching with all-star talent and has been successful.

For his entire career, Hamels has 163-122 record, an ERA of 3.43, and a WIP of 1.183. Two negatives come with Hamels. Number one, he is coming off a shoulder injury, and at age 36, he is at the tail end of his pitching career.

Aníbal Sánchez

Even though the Washington Nationals declined his club option for the upcoming year, it might be a good idea to try to bring Sánchez back for a year at a lower price. The 36-year-old finished the 2020 season with a 4-5 record as he recorded a career-worst 6.62 ERA along with a 1.66 WHIP over 53 innings. However, it was 2020, and things were so wonky that you might have to take this as an outlier in performance. We all know how effective Sánchez can be during the season, and even during the playoffs; maybe in 2021, Sánchez can regain his stuff and end his career on a high note.