The Pittsburgh Pirates top pitching prospect Gerrit Cole is reportedly set to make his major league debut on Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants.
The first-overall pick in the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft by the Pirates out of UCLA, Cole has been heralded as one of the most dominant and polished young arms in professional baseball.
Cole has moved quickly with the Pirates, dominating all minor league levels last season for Pittsburgh, posting a combined 9-2 record and 2.80 ERA in 132.0 innings of work.
Cole boasts an advanced, broad pitch arsenal highlighted by a devastating fastball that has electrifying movement and a slider that has hard breaking action, generating swings and misses with ease. Cole also has a solid changeup and curveball option, which compliments his plus power offerings. Although he has had recent trouble leaving the ball up in the zone at times, Cole has the ability to correct such miscues with his diverse arsenal.
In getting the call-up, Cole will be replacing an injured Wandy Rodriguez who is dealing with inflammation in his left forearm.
Pittsburgh should be very optimistic about the future of their starting rotation, as Cole should be soon followed by 2010 second-overall pick Jameson Taillon, another physically imposing, hard-throwing right hander who is currently pitching with Double-A Altoona.
If both top prospects pan out as expected, National League lineups will be subject to the formidable one-two punch of the future in Cole and Taillon.
