Ever since the Pirates selected Gerrit Cole with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, the expectations were through the roof. So far, Cole has met all of the expectations. He became the first pitcher to ever defeat to Cy Young Award winners in his first two starts when he bested Tim Lincecum and Zack Greinke, and also earned a third consecutive victory against Jered Weaver and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Against the Angels, Cole hit 100 miles-per-hour five times or more. Only one other starting pitcher in baseball (Matt Harvey) hit 100 once. The scary thing is, Cole hasn’t started to mix in his true wipe-out pitch, his slider. He has, however, clocked his changeup at an unreal speed of 93. Cole has arrived and has met the expectations.
How may be he rewarded for this? Going back to Indianapolis.
Wait, what?
As hard as it is to believe, there is a chance that Cole may go back to Triple-A once the rotation is healthy. Before you start, it has nothing at all to do with money or the ownership “not wanting to win.” The Pirates and executives around the league are confident that Cole won’t gain Super 2 status, although, one never knows when it will fall. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports said that a player called up after June 10th should be safe; Cole was called up on June 11th.
The reason he may go back down is for depth purposes. Neal Huntington met with the media on Sunday and Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review transcribed Huntington’s explanation:
“There’s a business component to it, as far as keeping our depth,” Huntington said. “Gerrit’s probably got the best stuff of anybody in the rotation … (and) he’s made three impressive outings. But the challenge is, if we need another starter (due to injury) later, it may make sense to send Gerrit back so we have a sixth quality starter.”
When Wandy Rodriguez and A.J. Burnett returning soon from the disabled list, the Pirates will have to make a five-man rotation from the following:
Burnett
Rodriguez
Cole
Jeff Locke
Francisco Liriano
Charlie Morton
Jeanmar Gomez
James McDonald
While I truly feel that McDonald has pitched his last game in Pittsburgh, that leaves five spots for seven guys. The assumed scenario will have Gomez going back to the bullpen where he began the year when Rodriguez returns. When Burnett returns, that’s when it gets interesting.
As much as the fans don’t want to hear it, the likely scenario will play out that Cole will return to Triple-A. Out of all of the staff, he’s the only one that has any minor league options left. As Huntington said, it would be a move for depth. If an injury arose, they would have Cole waiting in the wings. Having someone join Gomez in the bullpen makes little sense as they won’t be stretched out enough in case they need to make a start.
It won’t be the popular move, nor do I think it should happen, but it’s becoming a more realistic possibility that Cole will be sent back down to the minors within the next week or so.
