Gerrit Cole Has Earned Rotation Spot With Pittsburgh Pirates

By Darren Pare
Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

When it comes to the Pittsburgh Pirates this spring, it seems the pitching rotation takes on a different look after every game. After a strong outing on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins, I think highly touted prospect Gerrit Cole has earned a spot in the rotation. Cole allowed just one run in four innings. His earned run average for the spring stands at 3.60.

What Cole has earned and what he will get are probably two different things. The Pirates are likely to send him down to AAA Indianapolis so that his free agency clock doesn’t start. Management will probably wait until around June to bring him up so they can control him for an extra year, all the while denying that they are doing just that.

Sure there are things that Cole needs to work on, but that is true of any young player. If the Pirates are serious about ending their record setting streak of futility, 20 seasons for those of you not keeping track, then they need to bring some of these kids up to the majors and see what they are made of. Pirates fans have been more than patient and it is time that those who have been loyal all this time see some sort of payoff. The past two seasons have been a big tease. The team has started off well and then gone into a funk during the final third of the season. Maybe an influx of awesome young talent will be the death to this culture of losing. Now management just needs to have the guts to give it a try.

Darren Pare is a Pittsburgh Pirates writer for www.RantSports.com.    Follow him on Twitter at dpare71,  like  him on Facebook  or add  him  to your network on Google.

 

 

Share On FacebookShare StumbleUpon

You May Also Like