If you asked me to list the one thing that I was most excited for on the 2015 Pittsburgh Pirates besides the most plainly obvious reasons (they’re probably going to be good, Andrew McCutchen, etc.), I would tell you that it’s this:Baseball is full of dynamic young arms right now, and for two Septembers in a row, Gerrit Cole has looked like he was on the verge of joining that list of pitchers. He was flat-out nasty when the Pirates nailed down their first playoff spot in a generation in September of 2013, but then he was derailed a bit by shoulder and lat injuries in the first part of 2014. Once he returned from the disabled list and found his groove, though, he was obviously the Pirates’ best pitcher down the stretch. You don’t need me to tell you that Gerrit Cole has all of the necessary parts, because you’ve watched him pitch before. The main question left is whether he can be healthy and consistent enough to take things to the next level and extend that end-season dominance to the larger part of a 162-game schedule. My guess is that he can, and that in doing so he can help elevate a pitching staff that desperately needs elevated. I am, in short, every bit as excited for this game as I was for yesterday’s Opener (though that’s partially because I know that Cole pitching today means that he’s pitching in Monday’s Home Opener, which I’ll be attending).
Anyway, Cole and Mike Leake today. Mike Leake is not Johnny Cueto. I do not expect the Pirates to be limited to two runs again. First pitch tonight is at 7:10.
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Image
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