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Gerrit Cole To Debut For Pittsburgh Pirates

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The Pirates took Gerrit Cole with the first overall pick of the 2011 MLB Draft.

The Pirates took Gerrit Cole with the first overall pick of the 2011 MLB Draft.

Just over two years removed from being picked first overall in the 2011 MLB Draft, Gerrit Cole will make his major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night against the San Francisco Giants.

Cole entered this season as a consensus top 10 prospect in baseball. Baseball America ranked him seventh, while MLB.com ranked him ninth, and Baseball Prospectus ranked him third. The UCLA product has the potential to be a top-of-the-rotation starter, with an upper-90s fastball, a powerful slider, and an above average changeup in his arsenal.

Even with his tremendous stuff, Cole has struggled at times. This season, the 22-year-old isn’t missing as many bats as his stuff would suggest; in 68 innings at Triple-A Indianapolis, Cole has struck out just 47 batters and walked 28. Stuff is great, but Cole will have to command his stuff to get outs at the major league level.

Cole’s first test will be telling, as he faces a solid San Francisco club and former Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. The Giants are 16th in baseball in runs per game, putting them right around average. Lincecum struggled through a horrendous May (6.37 ERA), but settled down to throw a gem against the Toronto Blue Jays last week. Over seven innings, he allowed just one run on three hits and struck out six. If Lincecum keeps the ball rolling, Cole and the Pirates could have trouble.

The post Gerrit Cole To Debut For Pittsburgh Pirates appeared first on Hardball Chat Baseball Blog.


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