Gerrit Cole’s 2022 season in Tampa was an exercise in extremes.
The ace of the Yankees set a franchise record with 257 strikeouts and led the American League in home runs allowed with 33. The latter sometimes overpowered the former during a given start and, as a result, increased his ERA to 3.50 – one of Cole’s rare statistics that were closer to the middle of the pack among qualifying starters.
The result was a solid, if not remarkable, season that left the 32-year-old Cole with space for improvement heading into the fourth year of his nine-year, $324 million contract — which always sets the bar high for him, particularly in pinstripes.
Cole said Thursday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, where pitchers and catchers held their first official spring training practice, “I thought it was a really strong season.” “I believe that every year you examine what you can do better, and sometimes there are things that are not as evident as leading the league in home runs, but occasionally it is leading the league in home runs. Hence, if you want to lead the league in home runs, you must pitch pretty frequently.
Last season, Cole tossed 200 2/3 innings, marking the seventh time in his career that he surpassed the 200-inning mark, followed by 18 1/3 innings in three postseason starts.
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In his 33 regular-season starts, however, he was frequently torched by the long ball. There are rarely advantageous situations to concede a home run, but Cole allowed several of his at inconvenient periods. Twelve occurred in the fifth inning or later, fourteen occurred with two outs, and fifteen occurred with at least one runner on base.
Cole noted that his former Astros colleague Justin Verlander was hit for 36 home homers during his AL Cy Young-winning season in 2019 (when Cole finished second), and he wondered how many questions he received on the high home run total. Obviously, 28 of the home runs Verlander surrendered that season were solo shots, which contributed to his ERA being nearly a full run lower (2.58 vs. 3.58) than Cole’s (3.50) the previous season.
“There were some good pitches, some bad pitches, and some bad sequences,” Cole stated. “The late solo home runs or those that occur when there are two or three runners on base are the ones that are the most painful.
“But, part of it is my style. I don’t walk many batters, as all five of my pitches are strikes. A component of my greatness is my low walk rate. So, there is a strong likelihood that I will be in the striking zone when you meet me. If you have a solid pitch to hit and a great swing, these balls can sometimes be smacked out of the park.
Cole begins the season for the first time in his Yankees career with a true No. 2 starter in Carlos Rodon. The organization hopes its rotation will be one of its greatest strengths as it seeks to avoid a repeat of last October, when the Yankees were swept — or “waxed,” as Cole described it — by the Astros in the American League Championship Series.
Cole remarked with a chuckle, “Getting waxed never feels good, whether you’re at the salon or on the baseball field.”
However, manager Aaron Boone was impressed by Cole’s performance in the postseason despite facing doubts entering the ALDS about whether Nestor Cortes should have started Game 1 instead. Cole twice demolished the Guardians in the ALDS prior to conceding three runs in five innings against the Astros in his lone start.
Boone remarked, “He’s so good that there’s always another level he can reach to complete the Cy Young season.” As a result of his ability to overcome adversity during the past year, he has firmly established himself as one of the sport’s elite.
»Gerrit Cole after a season filled with home runs: “There’s always room for improvement.”«
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