Our 10 Prospects in 10 Days series wraps up with Gerrit Cole.
Quick Profile
Position: Pitcher
Throws: Right
Age: 22
eight: 6’4
Weight: 220 lbs.
The first overall pick in 2011, Cole has displayed his potential through one professional season. Here are his steady stats from Bradenton, Altoona, and Indianapolis:
| Year | Tm | Lg | Lev | W | L | G | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Bradenton | FLOR | A+ | 5 | 1 | 2.55 | 13 | 67.0 | 53 | 24 | 19 | 5 | 21 | 69 | 1.104 | 2.8 | 9.3 |
| 2012 | Altoona | EL | AA | 3 | 6 | 2.90 | 12 | 59.0 | 54 | 28 | 19 | 2 | 23 | 60 | 1.305 | 3.5 | 9.2 |
| 2012 | Indianapolis | IL | AAA | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1.167 | 1.5 | 10.5 |
| 1 Season | 9 | 7 | 2.80 | 26 | 132.0 | 113 | 55 | 41 | 7 | 45 | 136 | 1.197 | 3.1 | 9.3 | |||
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
A scouting report from MLB:
The UCLA product is big and strong with the frame to be a power pitcher who tops a rotation. His fastball is plus plus, up to 98 mph with ease, with a ton of life. Cole’s slider is also a plus, a hard breaking ball that gets swings and misses. His curve and changeup, also thrown hard, aren’t quite as good as the fastball-slider combination, but both might be above-average pitches. The only time he gets in trouble is when he leaves pitches up in the zone a bit, but he has the weapons to escape trouble. Cole reached Triple-A in his first full season of pro ball and seeing him in Pittsburgh in 2013 seems completely reasonable to expect.
Although he won’t break camp with the big league team, a debut sometime in 2013 is looking very likely. With aging veterans (A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez), a toss-up (James McDonald), inexperienced arms (Kyle McPherson, Jeff Locke), and a few injury-prone pitchers (Jeff Karstens, Francisco Liriano) all in the fold, Cole may be called upon to make a big impact in Pittsburgh.
MLB listed Cole as the #9 prospect in all of baseball, as well as the fifth-best right handed pitcher. Cole possesses a strong arm, and could form a dominant starting rotation along with fellow top prospect, Jameson Taillon. The two could build a young, impressive staff as early as 2014.
*Note: As we mentioned in our first edition of Gerrit Cole Watch, we are hoping to hold a prediction contest for his MLB debut.
Previous Editions:
Wyatt Mathisen
Victor Black
Alex Dickerson
Barrett Barnes
Josh Bell
Luis Heredia
Gregory Polanco
Alen Hanson
Jameson Taillon
