There’s little to say on nights when Gerrit Cole takes the mound other than that it’s a night that Gerrit Cole is taking the mound and thus it’s worth your while to watch him pitch. The Reds are a mess right now, and the Pirates could use the wins. Mike Leake starts for the Reds, and you’ve seen almost as much of Mike Leake in the last few years as you have of some of the Pirates’ pitchers.
Before the game tonight Corey Hart went on the disabled list with a shoulder impingement and Chris Volstad was called up to replace him. Volstad’s up because the bullpen is severely overworked right now, with Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke barely combining for one start between the two of them in the Pirates’ last two games. Volstad doesn’t appear to be significantly different than the Marlins/Rockies/Cubs Volstad that you likely remember as being a not very good pitcher; his ERA with Indianapolis this year is decent (3.43), but his strikeout rate is very low (5.9 K/9). He’s only allowed two home runs in 76 innings, though, so maybe the Pirates have him putting some more balls on the ground than he did in his last few years in the Majors. Hopefully we won’t see enough of him this week to really find out; presumably he’s up to add some bullpen depth for a few days, then will be replaced by Jaff Decker or someone.
Anyway, Cole and Leake. First pitch tonight is at 7:05.
Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images
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