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Gerrit Cole Set To Return To The Pirates Tonight
By Marty Leap
Gerrit Cole has been on the disabled list since August 24th. However, he will return to the Pirates’ rotation against the Philadelphia Phillies tonight.
Pirate ace Gerrit Cole will return to the Pirate rotation tonight in Philadelphia. The Pirates are in desperate need of a shot in the arm to finish the season strong. Hopefully, Cole can provide that boost.
So far this season Gerrit Cole has pitched 114 innings. In those 114 innings pitched he is averaging 7.50 K/9, 2.53 BB/9, 0.47 HR/9, and he owns a 1.39 WHIP. As a result Cole owns a 3.55 ERA, 3.16 FIP, 3.94 xFIP, a 2.7 WAR, he’s held hitters to a career best 21.7 percent soft contact rate, and his first career complete game. Cole’s ERA is the second highest of his career, however, this can be partially attributed to a very unlucky BABIP of .342.
2016 has been the story of two seasons for Gerrit Cole. Prior to a horrendous four start stretch before going on the disabled list with elbow discomfort Cole was putting together another fantastic season. Due, hopefully, to his elbow inflation though his last four starts of August were horrible.
Through his first 16 starts of the season Gerrit Cole was cruising along. While he had not pitched quite as well as he did in 2015, he was not far off. And he was still pitching like a top of the rotation starting pitcher.
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In his first 16 starts Cole pitched 92 1/3 innings. In these 92 1/3 innings pitched he allowed just three home runs, he had a strong 77:25 K:BB ratio, and he owned a 45.8 percent ground ball rate. This led to Gerrit Cole posting a 2.73 ERA and a 2.87 FIP, both of which ranked in the top five in the Major Leagues, through his first 16 starts.
Beginning with his start on August 7th Gerrit Cole was a completely different pitcher. On August 7th Cole started against the Cincinnati Reds, and it started the worst four game stretch of his Major League career. However, as I said above, there is a good chance that Cole’s ensuing struggles were due to his elbow inflammation.
In these four starts Gerrit Cole pitched just 21 1/3 innings and he allowed 34 (!) hits, three home runs, and he walked seven batters. In these four starts Cole wound up posting a 7.09 ERA, 4.39 FIP, and a 3.99 xFIP. Anyone watching Gerrit Cole pitch could tell something was bothering him.
To go along with poor results, Cole’s pitches were porous as well. His velocity was down and his fastball, which is known for having a lot of movement, was extremely flat. These two things contributed to a rise in hard contact rate allowed by Cole.
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Personally, I am excited to watch Gerrit Cole’s return to the rotation tonight. I am hopeful that Cole can spend the next three weeks getting back on track and knocking the rust off as the Pittsburgh Pirates gear up for the 2017 season. In 2017 the Pirates are going to need Cole to anchor their starting rotation if they are going to be as good as they have the potential to be.
Now that Gerrit Cole is healthy again I expect him to pitch much more like the Cole we are used to seeing. We will find out tonight at 7:05 PM when he opposes Jeremy Hellickson in game one of the Pirates’ four game series with the Phillies.