Potential Player- Gerrit Cole

I’ve been waiting to talk about this guy for a while, but now that he’s pitched once in the Major Leagues, it is time. Let’s look at my next potential player, Gerrit Cole. 

Gerrit Cole is a 22 year old pitcher out of UCLA, and is currently pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the first overall pick in the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft. Remember, the two #1 draft picks in the two previous years were Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper (the two most recent picks have both been by the Astros, Carlos Correa and Mark Appel). 

Yesterday was Gerrit Cole’s MLB debut. It was a good time to pitch because the Pirates are in such a good position in that they can take him if he’s really good, or just send him back to the AAA for some work if he needs it. Speaking of AAA, this season Cole had 12 starts, going 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA and had 47 K’s.  

Yesterday’s game was stellar. In his first batter faced, he struck out Gregor Blanco on a 99 mph pitch. In his first at bat, Cole blooped a 2 run single into right field that put up the Pirates 2-0. First batter faced, he strikes him out. First time batting, he hits a 2 run single. That’s great. 

Cole would end up going 6 and a third, striking out only 2, but giving up only 2 runs in a stellar debut. This kid has lots of potential, no doubt. Do I think he’ll be as good as Stephen Strasburg? I doubt it, only because Strasburg is something very special (he also struck out 14 in his MLB Debut).

What I do know is that Cole may not get as much recognition with this debut. This is because the Pirates already have one of the best pitching staffs in the Major Leagues: They have the best batting average against in the MLB, and are third best in ERA. Unfortunately, they’re still in 3^rd against the Cardinals and Reds, who too have some of the best pitching staffs in baseball. 

I believe in this Gerrit Cole guy. He’s not your Stephen Strasburg or Felix Hernandez, but rather an Anibal Sanchez or a David Price. If you want to go back further, he’s like a David Wells. 

The Pirates need more in their hitting, but their pitching is set now. I think the Pirates can make the playoffs this year, but with a guy like Gerrit Cole, they can start making more and more postseason appearances in the next ten years. 

If you want to see the highlights of Gerrit Cole’s performance, here it is:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/gerrit-cole-debut-video-pirates-hit_n_3425123.html

So far I have seen Paul Goldschmidt, Jean Segura, Yasiel Puig, and now Gerrit Cole as my potential players so far. Who do you think has been the best so far this year? Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com and I’ll post the results at the end of the week.

-Evan Boyd

“My pitching philosophy is simple – keep the ball away from the bat” – Satchel Paige