Gerrit Cole
From BR Bullpen
Gerrit Alan Cole
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 3", Weight 195 lb.
- School University of California, Los Angeles
- High School Orange Lutheran High School
- Born September 8, 1990 in Newport Beach, CA USA
Contents |
[edit] Biographical Information
Gerrit Cole was the first pick of the 2011 amateur draft despite entering the draft with a losing record.
[edit] High School
Cole played for Mike Grahovac in high school. As a sophomore, he was 1-0 with 14 strikeouts in 14 innings. His junior year, he hit .269 and had a 3-0, 1.21 record with two saves. As a senior, he went 8-2 with a save, a 0.46 ERA, 121 strikeouts and 18 walks in 75 2/3 innings. He had peaked at 100 mph in high school. He was named second-team All-American by Baseball America, behind Brett DeVall, Danny Hultzen, Taylor Jungmann and Jake Odorizzi. DeVall and Odorizzi were first-rounders that year, while Jungmann and Hultzen would go in the top 15 picks in 2011 after their junior years at college. Baseball America ranked him as the #17 draft prospect. The New York Yankees took Cole 28th overall in the 2008 amateur draft but he did not sign. He was the highest pick of the draft to go on to college and the highest-drafted player ever to enroll at UCLA. The Yankees wound up getting Slade Heathcott with the compensation pick in the 2009 amateur draft for not having signed Cole.
[edit] College
Cole had a mere 4-8, 3.49 record as a freshman. He fanned 104 in 85 innings and allowed a .191 average, but walked 38. He set a new school record for strikeouts by a freshman, ranking fourth in the Pacific-10 Conference in that category. That summer, he was 4-0 with a 1.06 ERA for Team USA's college edition, leading them with 46 strikeouts in 34 innings. The team did not play in any major international tournaments that year.
The flamethrowing right-hander made big strides in 2010 at 11-4, 3.37. He struck out 153 in 123 innings but again had control issues, walking 52. He was picked as third-team All-American by Baseball America, alongside Kyle Blair, Asher Wojciechowski and Noe Ramirez. Cole was second in the Pac-10 in strikeouts (behind teammate Trevor Bauer) and was third in the nation (after Bauer and Wojciechowski and just ahead of Chris Sale). In the 2010 College World Series, he struck out 13 in a dominant win over Texas Christian University. In the finals, though, he started game one against the University of South Carolina and was pounded for six runs on eleven hits in seven innings. He had a 1-1, 4.20 record for the Series.
In the summer of '10, Cole again played for Team USA. He was 2-0 with a 0.72 ERA. In the big event, the 2010 World University Championship, he got the call in the Gold Medal game and battled Cuba's Miguel A. González through seven scoreless innings before Noe Ramirez blew it in relief. For the event, he had a 1.38 ERA, 16 hits and 10 strikeouts in 13 innings, getting two no-decisions for the Silver Medalists.
Cole struggled in 2011, with a 6-8, 3.31 start. He twice carried perfect games into the 7th inning. His control was much better, with 24 walks in his first 114 1/3 innings. The Pittsburgh Pirates decided he was the best player available in the 2011 amateur draft, making him the #1 overall pick, ahead of pitchers like Danny Hultzen and Taylor Jungmann with better college stats and Anthony Rendon (the top-rated college batter), the other people they had been rumored to be considering. He was the first UCLA player picked first overall - the previous high was Tim Leary (#2 in 1979). When teammate Bauer went third overall, it was the first time since 1978 that a team had two players taken in the top three - the last such duo since Arizona State University's Bob Horner and Hubie Brooks. As expected, it took until the final day on which draftees could sign for the Pirates and Cole to come to an agreement; on August 15th, he agreed to an $8 million minor league deal, the largest minor league contract in history.
