Cole could retire as a Buc
Some of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball have spent all, if not the majority, of their careers in a Pittsburgh Pirates’ uniform.
The list includes Hall of Famers Honus Wagner, Paul Waner, Ralph Kiner, Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. All-time home run leader Barry Bonds played the first seven seasons of his career with the Pirates, and Andrew McCutchen is fresh off winning the National League MVP award and playing in three consecutive All-Star Games.
The list of great pitchers in Pirates’ history is much shorter.
Just five have won at least 150 career games, and none of them have played since Vernon Law retired in 1967. Wilbur Cooper, who had 202 victories from 1912-24, is the only one to surpass 200 wins.
Because Gerrit Cole has but 10 wins and 19 starts on his major-league resume and is 23 years old, it might be unfair to wonder if he could become one of the Pirates’ all-time greats. However, the right-hander is so talented that it is hard not to think about what the future holds.
“I preface this by saying that pitchers are unpredictable and there is always the injury factor involved,” said a veteran scout from a National League club. “But this kid has a chance to be as good as anybody in the league. I’m talking (the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton) Kershaw, I’m talking (Justin) Verlander, I’m talking the kid with Miami (Jose Fernandez). Cole can be as good – or better — than any of them.
“He has everything you want. He has great stuff. He throws hard. His breaking pitch is devastating. He’s got the sturdy build of a workhorse. He’s smart and figures things out. It’s all there.”
Cole was 10-7 with a 3.22 ERA in 19 starts last season as a rookie. He struck out 100 batters in 117 innings while allowing 109 hits and 28 walks. His fastball averaged 96.1 mph, the best in the major leagues among pitchers who worked at least 110 innings, according to FanGraphs.
However, those numbers don’t completely tell the story of the pitcher the Pirates chose with the first overall pick in the 2011 amateur draft from UCLA and signed to a franchise-record $8-million bonus.
In his last eight regular-season starts, Cole was 6-2 with a 2.28 ERA and a 53-13 strikeout/walk ratio. He was stellar while splitting two starts against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series, allowing three runs and five hits in 11 innings with 10 strikeouts and two walks.
The Pirates won’t anoint Cole as their ace following the departure of A.J. Burnett to the Philadelphia Phillies in free agency because of his youth. Left-hander Francisco Liriano will likely get the start March 31 when the Pirates open the season against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park.
However, the Pirates are eager to see how much more Cole can improve after the major steps he took forward in the latter part of last season.
“You saw a different Gerrit Cole at the end last season than you saw when he first walked in the door,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “He loves to compete whether it’s anything he does. This man wants to come out on top. He did through college. Every conversation I’ve had with anybody that’s been tied to him, since he started pitching in competitive baseball and competitive situations say the same think and we’ve seen it with our player development staff.”
Cole enjoyed pitching on the big stage last October and would like another opportunity. He says in order to be successful again to be successful in his second year is to continue what he did as a rookie.
“The season went by so quickly and I just realized that I had been taking the same approach and that was just taking it one game at a time, one start at a time and just taking care of business in between those starts,” Cole said. “I think it was part of my strength, just being able to stay really focused and stay in the present and not look too far ahead or dwell too much on the past.”