The New York Yankees made the signing of the offseason when they were able to land Gerrit Cole on a nine-year, $324 million deal. Cole came off a historic 2019 season, hungry for more in 2020.
Despite growing up in California, Cole was always a Yankee fan. He was drafted in the first round by the Yankees in 2008 but chose to go to school instead.
The now 29-year-old was the first overall pick of the 2011 MLB draft out of UCLA by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Two years later, he made his MLB debut against the San Francisco Giants.
He was traded to the Astros before the 2018 season and had two great years there. In 2019, he was 20-5 with a 2.50 ERA over 33 starts. He struck out 326 in 212.1 innings with a 0.895 WHIP. Cole never lost a game after May 22nd.
2020 Expectations
The Yankees spent all that money on Gerrit Cole with the expectation that he will be great. They are expecting a season similar to 2019 or better. His signing is a high risk, high reward situation.
If there’s one thing that he could try to improve on, it’s his early-season struggles. That’s something that slowed him down a bit last year, and the reason why his ERA is higher then his performance showed.
If he can try and get his ERA down to 2.25, that’d be great. That’s where his ERA would’ve been if it wasn’t for April and May struggles.
He needs to continue to do his thing, and that’s striking guys out. It would be great if he and Gary Sanchez could bond all spring, so that could help their communication and benefit each other on the field.
Gerrit Cole is poised for a great first season with his new team, the New York Yankees.