Gerrit Cole’s domination of Mets examined

May 22, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) pitches against New York Mets third baseman Eric Campbell (L) during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Gerrit Cole turned in what many believe to be the best start of his career against the Mets on May 22. With a line like this: 8.1 IP/6H/10K/1BB/1R (unearned), it would be hard to argue that.

Here’s how he did it.

I’ve written previously about Cole’s slider taking a leap this year into a truly elite pitch. If my previous thoughts on the topic was a small din, Friday’s start against the Mets turned it into a deafening roar. Using data from FanGraphs, I found that Cole’s slider was an absolutely filth show, one which the Mets had absolutely no answer for. Yet, it wasn’t all about the slider, as we’ll soon learn.

Regardless of how it happened, Cole’s magnificent turn simply reinforced the fact that the Pirates rotation will be anchored by an absolute superstar in the making for the foreseeable future. Here now is a look at Cole’s mastery.

Let’s start with that slider.

Next: Sliding into the strike zone

Apr 24, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Cole (45) leaves the game in the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Lucas Duda is by most measures the best hitter in the Mets lineup, or at least the biggest RBI and power threat. Slashing .294/.387/.494 on the year with six home runs and a team-leading 1.5 WAR, Duda is a bright spot in an otherwise light-hitting Mets lineup. Yet Gerrit Cole cared not. Cole took it to Duda with passion and fury, striking the slugger out three times as part of an 0-for-4 night.

The three Duda strikeouts each were unique in approach. In the first inning, Cole attacked Duda with straight heat, throwing three straight fastballs for strikes, averaging 96.6 MPH. In the fourth inning, Cole mixed it up, launching a 98.8 MPH fastball to setup Duda to look especially foolish in swinging and missing at two sliders. Cole mixed in a sinkers as well in the at-bat. While Duda showed a bit better than his first inning folly, Cole, along with Chris Stewart, showed great savvy in showing Duda something different from the previous at-bat, and it kept Duda off-balance enough to pretty much neuter his power. In their last confrontation in the seventh inning, Cole went back to the heat, launching two four-seamers that averaged about 98 MPH. In this frame, Duda was hapless and helpless, as he only offered at one pitch, a curveball that had a filthy horizontal break of 7.91 and a vertical break of -2.15.

When we step back and look at Cole’s approach to the opposing team’s best hitter, there is a ton to like. One could point to Cole’s first-inning approach against Duda as setting him up for later at-bats by using only the fastball to maximize his breaking pitches later when he might need them more. Then in the other at-bats, that early success with the fastball kept Duda guessing enough that he was never really a threat. If you are still looking for evidence that Cole is becoming a pitcher rather than than a hurler, look no further.

Now, let’s look at the Mets plate discipline against Cole, or lack thereof.

Next: Mets enjoy the chase

Apr 24, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Cole (45) looks on at the conclusion of the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Surprisingly, Gerrit Cole does not get many batters to swing at pitches outside of the zone. Coming in at 32.1% on the year, that is good for only 33rd in the National League. One thing he did very well against the Mets was reduce the amount of contact on those pitches out of the zone. Here is a look at all of Cole’s plate discipline numbers, both for the year and against the Mets:

All of Cole’s plate discipline peripherals were pretty much on his season numbers except for contact. Looking at O-Contact (contact on pitches out of the zone) alone, Cole put bat on ball considerably less on pitches outside of the zone while still getting batters to offer at it just as much. This maximized the effectiveness ofthose pitches and led to much more chasing, as the previous slide about the slider indicates. I’m no mathematician, but it stands to reason that if the batter can’t put the ball in play, that would favor the pitcher. 

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When we look at the start on the whole, a few thoughts come into focus.

First –  Gerrit Cole is becoming a complete pitcher. From 2014 to 2015, Cole is actually throwing the four-seam more (66.7% in ’14 to 69.5% in ’15), yet has relied less on his curveball in favor of the slider from year to year. Cole is throwing more than half as many curveballs year-to-year (18.6% to 8%) while increasing his slider usage by 6%. The takeaway is this – Cole is using his velocity more effectively by cultivating a pitch that can fool batters with movement. One shutters to think what his arsenal might look like if he further develops his breaking ball.

Second – Cole thrives off of the competition of facing the opposing team’s best hitter. Any Pirate fan will tell you that Cole is as fiery as they come on the mound, and does not shy away from the competition. This is exactly what you want from your ace. And make no mistake about it, Cole is the ace of the Pirates pitching staff.

For Pirates fans, it is truly a treat to watch a pitcher of Cole’s ilk mature and develop right before our eyes with each passing start. Expect for starts like Friday’s outing vs the Mets to become the norm sooner than later.

Next: Charlie Morton tops Marlins in season debut