In a move that will not surprise many Pittsburgh Pirates fans, manager Clint Hurdle announced Saturday afternoon that Gerrit Cole will be the team’s starting pitcher for Wednesday’s Wild Card game against the Chicago Cubs.
“We pretty much scripted it out when we scripted the entire rotation three weeks ago,” Hurdle said.
For Cole this will be his first time starting game one of a wild card game, an opportunity he is looking forward to.
“It’s special,” Cole said. “[Hurdle] continues to put me in big games and it’s a vote of confidence and trust. It’s an acknowledgement for all of the hard work you put in to get to that position but at the same time this is a team game, it’s not about one player so we have to go out and win the game so I have to keep it at a stone’s throw.”
Had there been a one-game playoff for the National League Central with the St. Louis Cardinals, Cole would have started that game instead.
Though he did not pitch in the 2014 wild card contest against the San Francisco Giants, Cole does have postseason game clinching experience pitching and losing game five of the 2013 NLDS to the Cardinals.
“I’m fortunate to be able to pitch in the postseason my first year and draw from experiences like that,” said Cole. “I’m going to treat it like any other game. There’s obviously going to be very big ramifications, but that’s the nature of the business.”
This season, Cole leads the team with 19 wins and has thrown 208 innings this season. He has struck out 202 batters, and has a 4.6 WAR as well as a 1.09 WHIP.
Photo credit: Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo
