Gerrit Cole had always been a pitcher that blew his fastball past hitters, however a conversation two years ago with former Pittsburgh Pirate John Buck changed this mindset.
“He told me not to overthrow the breaking ball and not to overthrow the changeup,” Cole said.
This change in addition to injuries during the 2014 season allowed for Cole to place more trust in his off-speed pitches.
Buck’s remarks were echoed by pitching coach Ray Searage, who had similar observations after seeing Cole’s early starts, including the first at PNC Park against the San Francisco Giants.
“He didn’t really pitch with it, he threw it,” Searage said. “With the talent and skill set that he has, he’s able to compete that way but what makes it easier for him out there in between the white lines is to show them different angles and vary the speeds with his pitches. Those are the things he is developing and is getting a better feel for himself and his pitches.”
Catcher Chris Stewart agreed with Searage’s assessment.
“At lower levels, you can get away with just a fastball but up here, you have to either be really precise with it or just mix in other stuff to get people off the fastball,” Stewart said.
Searage noted that the scouting report on Cole was that he was a hard thrower and tried to overpower with his velocity. Searage wanted Cole to hit what he refers to as “the four corners” when he pitched, however his demonstration of a buy in took some time.
“There was a time he had a good idea of what he needed to do and then I think that game [last year] in San Diego where he was pitching in front of family and friends, he pushed himself a little bit and that’s where the lat muscle came into play,” said Searage. “That was part of just being immature, he wanted to do so well and throw every pitch with maximum effort but I think we made a big headway last year in St. Louis. Once he got healthy, he learned how to add and subtract all the time.”
Searage echoed his remarks made in December at PirateFest stating Cole needed to stop relying on his 97 mile-per-hour fastball and incorporate more pitches at changing speeds. Cole has now added a two-seam fastball to his changeup, slider and curveball.
“He’s learned to utilize other pitches in order to slow bats down,” said Stewart. “It’s just a matter of him going out on days he doesn’t pitch and work on those secondary pitches.”
Not only is Cole accomplishing what Searage has asked, but he is also able to read hitter’s misses.
Cole has developed into an ace-caliber pitcher this season, however that does not mean that there are area in which he can improve.
“Nothing is ever a finished product,” said Searage. “There are some things he still has to control, his speed on the bump in between pitches and being overaggressive at times. More is not better, stay within yourself, execute the pitch.”
That being said, Searage believes with time and game action, Cole will become an improved pitcher.
“No doubt there’s so much that a coach can do but the game can teach more sometimes,” Searage said. “He’s going to learn by his mistakes and certain things that arise. He’s going to get better and realize he’s been in decisions before and then he’ll know what to do.”
Cole is developing his own ways to find success with off-speed pitches while building on his success this season.
“I realize that if you throw it in the right location and it doesn’t move at all it still has to be a differential change,” Cole said. “When in areas where I need to focus on locating the pitch I always kind of have that in the back of my head. I’m really not trying to break this thing, I’m just trying to locate it. It just helps me not overthrow.”
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