Report: Pittsburgh Pirates SP Cole to Miss at Least One Start

According to reports, Pittsburgh Pirates Starting Pitcher Gerrit Cole will miss at least one start

The Pittsburgh Pirates, a team in desperate need of some good news, received just that as MRIs on Gerrit Cole‘s triceps came back negative for structural damage. Bill Brink of the Post-Gazette has the report.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”Bill Brink, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette” link=”” color=”#000000″ class=”” size=””]“If we can knock this out in 15 days, we might be better served to knock this out in 15 days,” Huntington said. “We’re not there yet. His next start is certainly in doubt, almost certainly not going to happen.”[/perfectpullquote]

Unless a trip to the DL for Cole is necessary, Jameson Taillon will not be eligible to take Cole’s turn in the rotation. Taillon will not be eligible to return to the team until Sunday, June 19th under MLB rules. With the exception being to replace a player on the DL, general manager Neal Huntington will have to face the choice of shutting Cole down for 15 days in order to bring Taillon, or perhaps Wilfredo Boscan, back to the big leagues or explore other options. Many fans will immediately clamor for Tyler Glasnow to receive a spot start much like Taillon, yet many still feel his lack of control makes him not-quite-ready for the majors.

Of course, the team’s preferred option would have been Ryan Vogelsong, who was to be the swing-man out of the 2016 bullpen, but his orbital injury derailed that plan.

Regardless of how they chart the course, the Pittsburgh Pirates have to feel good about the news on Cole. The club cannot afford to lose its staring pitching-leading ERA (2.77), BB/9 (2.6), FIP (3.04), WHIP (1.31) and SO/W (2.75). While there is still a lingering chance that he could miss some time, the resulting absence now has a chance to be much shorter than initially feared.

Of course, the Pittsburgh Pirates could receive a boost if their remaining starters rebound from an especially horrid stretch of starts. Over the last 14 days, the team’s starting pitching unit carries a 4.61 ERA, good for ninth in the 15-team National League. Simple progressions back to the mean for Francisco Liriano, Jon Niese and Jeff Locke could result in carrying more weight than in their previous starts.