With Gerrit Cole enjoying his breakout season, where would you rank him among all starting pitcher in the league? [poll id="139"] ... Read More
Pirates winning streak a season high after victory
Pedro Alvarez has had his struggles against left-handed pitching this season going 2-for-20 on the season, however his single helped the Pittsburgh Pirates score the game-winning run in a 3-2 victory against the Chicago White Sox.This victory game the Pirates a major league leading eighth sweep of the season. They had five sweeps all of last season. The Pirates also earned its eighth consecutive win, a season high."We're playing very good baseball," manager Clint Hurdle said to assembled media ... Read More
Pirates hold off Phillies late inning rally
Tony Watson had already allowed one run and loaded the bases with no outs. It was not an ideal situation for him however he induced three ground ball outs which ended the threat. Meanwhile, Gerrit Cole earned his league-leading 10th win of the season as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Philadelphia Phillies by a 4-3 score Saturday afternoon. “I think we’re playing our brand of baseball," Cole said. "I think we’re playing really sharp D and stringing together at-bats throughout the game ... Read More
Pirates pregame 6/13: Cole looks for 10th win
The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking for its fifth series win in the past seven series with a win this afternoon against the Philadelphia Phillies. Friday's night's game was delayed nearly 90 minutes by rain and went to the 13th inning before the Pirates prevailed 1-0. Starling Marte got the game-winning hit, a single which scored Chris Stewart. Today’s starters: The Pirates send Gerrit Cole to the mound to face Sean O'Sullivan. Cole has won his past four starts including a seven-inning ... Read More
Cole wins fourth consecutive start; Pirates win another series
Gerrit Cole won his fourth start of the season throwing seven innings in a 3-0 Pirates victory against the Atlanta Braves. Cole [9-2] now is tied with Felix Hernandez for the most wins and ERA [1.73]. His 116 pitches represent a career high. He also is the first Pirates pitcher since Emil Yde in 1924-25 to win 30 games in his first 53 starts. Since September 7, 2014, Cole has 12 wins, which represents the most in the major leagues during that time period. Pirates starters have now recorded ... Read More
MLB franchise draft: How high should McCutchen, Cole go?
With the MLB Draft just a day away, we figured we would mix a little fantasy with regular baseball today. ESPN recently did a franchise draft, where they redrafted the entire league, where salaries don't matter. In their draft, two Pirates went in the first round — Andrew McCutchen (9) and Gerrit Cole (29)— but we figured we'd give it a shot, too, to see if the two differ in value. 1. Mike Trout: 23-year-old CF - Not much of a surprise here. By far the best player in baseball. 2. Bryce ... Read More
Down on the farm: Looking at Pirates pitching depth in AAA without Kingham
It’s a reality Pittsburgh Pirate fans are becoming all too familiar with over the last couple seasons – a top pitching prospect needs Tommy John Surgery. This time, it’s Nick Kingham. Kingham is considered by pundits as the third-best pitching prospect in the Pirates system, and a guy that was expected to make the majors at some point in 2015. Now his big league debut is going to have until late 2016, or maybe even 2017. The surgery obviously gives the Bucs one less depth option this season ... Read More
Cole recovers from two-run first in Pirates win
Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle called "uncle" to reporters pregame when describing his admiration for what the San Francisco Giants have done in recent seasons. In Monday night's game however, the Pirates did anything but, winning a 4-3 contest at AT&T Park. The Pirates could have panicked when Andrew McCutchen's two sacrifice flies were caught by Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence in above average defensive plays, however instead viewed both as two runs which undid a two-run first ... Read More
Pirates pregame 5/27: team goes for sweep; Scahill appreciates trust
After 4-2 and 5-1 victories the past two days, the Pittsburgh Pirates hope to go for their second consecutive series sweep;this time against the Miami Marlins. With last night's victory, the Pirates starting pitching staff has each earned a victory as part of a five-game winning streak. Today’s starters: The Pirates will send Gerrit Cole to the mound to face left-handed starter Brad Hand. After winning his first four decisions of the season, Cole has won two of his past three. In ... Read More
Cole learns to trust off-speed pitches
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 ... Read More