Starting a sentence with “the most impressive thing about Gerrit Cole thus far in 2015 is…” is a good way to get yourself into trouble quickly, as the list of impressive things that Cole has done to this point is as long as Cole is tall. After watching him pitch yesterday, though, certainly one thing that he’s done this year that’s really stood out is the way that he’s pitched on days that it didn’t feel like he had his best stuff. In each of Cole’s last four starts, there were moments where it felt like maybe he was going to unravel a bit. Against the Marlins, he allowed two home runs to players he shouldn’t have allowed home runs to. Against the Giants, he kept loading the bases up. Against the Braves, his control was the the worst it’s been this year. Against the Phillies yesterday, he gave up a bunch of sharp hits in the early part of the game. This is Gerrit Cole’s line in those four games:
27 IP, 30 K, 5 BB, 23 H, 6 R, 3 ER, .598 OPS against, 2 HR, 2 HBP, and four Pirate wins
The great Gerrit Cole starts have always existed, but prior to this year they coexisted with starts where Cole couldn’t get into a groove or lost his groove and couldn’t find it again. This year, Cole’s never more than a couple pitches from shutting an inning down, no matter how things look. I think that’s where the difference lies for him this year — not in the spectacular starts like his domination of the Mets, but in the in-between starts where it’s not immediately apparent from the outset that he’s going to be able to do whatever he wants on the mound.
I’m guessing that difference stems from his improved command. His last start against the Braves, where he walked three batters and hit two, felt very out of place. Indeed, it was his only start in 2015 in which he walked three hitters. Last year, he walked three or more hitters five times before his lat injury in late June, and then he did it in two of his first three starts after coming off of the disabled list. The start against the Braves is the only one that it’s happened in since then.
It seems like such an obvious thing that it almost feels stupid: cut down on free base runners, mix in a couple more swings and misses, and suddenly Gerrit Cole goes from tantalizing prospect to something very real and tangible at the top of the Pirate rotation.
I also think that Clint Hurdle deserves a shout-out for the way that Cole’s workload has been managed. In Cole’s last six starts, Hurdle has done a nice job of not letting Cole make three high-pitch-count starts in a row. Cole threw 107 against the Cubs on May 16th and then 111 in his masterpiece against the Mets on May 22nd. Against the Marlins on May 27th, Hurdle had him out after seven innings and only 81 pitches (though there was a pinch-hitting situation to consider there). Against the Giants on June 1st, Cole threw 100 pitches and then he hit a season-high at 116 against the Braves earlier this week, so Hurdle had him out at six innings and 93 pitches yesterday, even though he probably had another inning in him. It would be really easy to ride a pitcher like Cole too hard; he looks excellent almost every night and he throws as hard in the seventh and eighth innings as he does in the first and second, and that all comes without considering the Pirates’ bullpen. There are plenty of other considerations other than the immediate RIGHTNOW, though, and I think that thus far, Hurdle’s done a nice job of building Cole’s pitch counts up without completely working him to death. I think this is definitely something interesting to watch as the season wears on.
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