Pittsburgh Pirates’ right-handed pitching prospect Gerrit Cole made his professional baseball debut yesterday with the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League.
Cole, the no. 1 overall pick in June’s MLB First-Year Player Draft, gave up three runs in 2.1 innings pitched, but was happy with the outing overall.
From the Pittsburgh Pirates website:
“I felt pretty good. It was exciting and I did well,” said Cole, who reportedly hit 100 mph with his fastball and the upper 80s with his slider. “I was a little bit nervous during the warmup pitches, but I was OK. I can take a lot of positives from the game as well as some negatives that I have to acknowledge.”
Cole got through the first inning without letting a runner on base. The 21-year-old allowed a lead-off single in the second but struck out two batters to eventually end the inning. After recording one out in the third, Cole allowed a single, a walk, and a two-run double, which would end his outing.
He threw 36 of 52 pitches for strikes.
You can check out some video of Cole throwing in yesterday’s game at the ever-reliable Pirates Prospects, including Cole’s strikeout pitch to Florida Marlins’ top prospect Matt Dominguez.
