Gerrit Cole will make his first start as a professional this afternoon in the Arizona Fall League for the Mesa Solar Sox at 2:35 this afternoon. I’ll post an update here after his start (which I’m guessing will only last a few innings), but if you want something a little more real-time, Keith Law will be watching Cole pitch and presumably tweeting about it.
UPDATE: Sorry, the game’s at 3:35. Arizona is apparently one of those states that just makes up its own rules when it comes to time zones.
UPDATE #2: Cole got three groundouts on 15 pitches (10 strikes) in his first inning. And hit 100 on the gun. And his slider 89-90 mph.
UPDATE #3: After a leadoff single, Cole got two strikeouts and a groundout in the second. He threw 15 more pitches (12 strikes) in the second. And here I am, liveblogging an Arizona Fall League game.
UPDATE #4: Cole got a groundout to leadoff the third, but then gave up a single, followed by a ten-pitch walk, followed by a two-run double by Tim Beckham (who you may remember as the first overall pick in the 2008 draft, though he’s struggled a bit in his rise through the minors in the Rays’ system). He was pulled at that point, though charged with the third run when Beckham scored. According to Keith Law, he was still throwing in the upper 90s throughout the inning.
