Cole hopeful to pitch again in 2016
Three thoughts on the Pirates:
1. No ace this year
Gerrit Cole is optimistic that he will pitch again this season.
The Pirates right-hander is currently on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his elbow. He is eligible to be activated Friday, though it might be optimistic to expect him to return that soon.
Yet even if Cole does return, it is easy to wonder exactly how much he can help the Pirates in the final weeks of the season.
Cole is 7-9 with a 3.55 ERA in 20 starts this season, a far cry from 2015 when he went 19-8 with a 2.60 ERA in 32 starts and finished fourth in the National League Cy Young Award voting.
Things haven’t gone right for Cole since the first day of spring training in February when the Pirates did not allow him to throw off a mound because of a rib cage injury he had sustained a month earlier.
Cole would have made his first career opening day start, but the injury put him behind schedule. Thus, he stayed behind in spring training for an extra start before making his regular-season debut in the fourth game.
It seems Cole has been running against the wind all season. Following a stint on the disabled list with a strained triceps from June 11-July 15, he went 2-5 with a 4.73 ERA in eight starts before going back on the DL.
It seems unlikely that Cole can salvage his season at this point. A wiser course would be to hit the reset button and look ahead to 2017 because he is too valuable to the Pirates’ future.
2. What a life
Playing baseball for a living is better than most jobs, but sometimes it is not so great. Kyle Lobstein is living proof.
The left-hander made the Pirates’ opening day roster after being claimed off waivers from the Detroit Tigers in the offseason. He shuttled between Pittsburgh and Class AAA Indianapolis five times this season.
The Pirates then designated him for assignment Tuesday to make room on the 40-man roster so another lefty to be promoted from Indianapolis, Kelvin Marte.
A day later, the Pirates worked out a trade to send Lobstein to the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. It seemed like a good break for him because the Orioles are contenders in the American League.
Alas, a little more than two hours later, Lobstein was designated for assignment by the Orioles when they needed a spot on the 40-man roster for outfielder Drew Stubbs, who was claimed off waivers from the Texas Rangers.
It would easy to envision Lobstein going home for the offseason and soaking his head in a bucket of ice water.
3. Pirates were right
The Pirates’ decision to trade second baseman Neil Walker to the New York Mets last December was roundly criticized by the fans and media in the region.
General manager Neal Huntington knew he would take heat for trading a popular player who is also a Pittsburgh-area native. However, the Pirates were convinced that signing Walker to a long-term contract was too risky because he would he eventually need back surgery.
Sure enough, Walker is scheduled to have an operation to repair a herniated disc.
While Huntington whiffed on trade by acquiring left-hander Jon Niese, his long-term decision proved to be the right one, regardless of the unpopularity.