STOPS O ’EM COLE!
Gerrit dominates again with Higgy catching as Yanks clobber Blue Jays
BUFFALO — Call it what you want. The Yankees refuse to say it’s a “personal catcher” situation. Gerrit Cole jokingly called it him being Kyle Higashioka’s “personal pitcher.” Whatever you call it, it works. In his final start of the regular season, Cole threw seven strong innings as the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 12-1 at Sahlen Field.
That snapped a two-game slide for the Yankees (32-23), who clinched their playoff spot Sunday night and are trying to line themselves up for the first round of the expanded playoffs after the coronavirus-pandemic shortened season.
Cole allowed one run on five hits. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter. His next start will be Tuesday in Game 1 of the best-of-three first round playoff series.
It is more than likely that Higashioka will be starting behind the plate that night as well.
Tuesday was the fourth straight time that Boone has paired Higashioka with Cole. In those four starts, the righty has pitched to a 1.00 ERA. He has struck out 34 and allowed three home runs in that span. He allowed one to Cavan Biggio Tuesday night, for the only run against him.
With Sanchez behind the plate, Cole pitched to a 3.91 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 46 innings pitched over eight games. Opponents had a .265 batting average against and .776 OPS.
Aaron Boone almost went as far as admitting that Higashioka is now Cole’s personal catcher before Tuesday night’s game.
“I don’t necessarily love it or, that said, I don’t mind it,” Boone said. “If you have a guy that is the clear backup, that’s only playing once every four days or once every five days and they get in a good rhythm, certainly with a pitcher, I mean, obviously, I’ve been doing it here with Higgy and Cole here. So, I think over the long haul maybe you try to avoid it a little bit, but if it’s a natural matchup and things are rolling, obviously, I’m not against it.”
Cole said that he feels like he can work with anyone. Last season with the Astros’ his starts were fairly evenly divided between Martin Maldanado (10 games) and Robinson Chirinos (16 games).
In the end, what will matter most is if Cole is effective and the Yankees still manage to get offensive production. Higashioka has helped his cause of late with the bat. Coming off a three-home run game, Higashioka had a two-run double in the eighth Tuesday night.
He was part of a potent offense.
Gio Urshela had a four-hit night, driving in two runs. Aaron Judge went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Aaron Hicks went 2for-4 with three RBI. Gleyber Torres went 3-for-5 with three RBI.
The argument for Sanchez catching everyone in the playoffs had always been that the Yankees couldn’t keep his bat on the bench. This year, however, he’s struggled offensively. Boone benched him for two games to have him work on his approach. In the 11 games since, Sanchez has gone 7-for-39 with three homers and three doubles. He had nine strikeouts in that span.
Boone said he is not worried about this change affecting Sanchez, because he will get his playing time.
“Not really, because the reality is I feel like we’ve started to see him in the month of September, start to gain a little bit of traction and start to have the quality of a bat,” Boone said. “I even go back to last night where he didn’t get any results, it wasn’t an overwhelming offensive night for him, but it’s a different night than what we’re seeing in the first weeks of the season, in the first month of the season. It’s a lot more competitive, you feel like he’s got a
chance to do some damage at any point. And it’s just because he’s controlling the strike zone a little bit better. He’s not chasing as much. And I feel like he’s rounding off into a good place.
“I feel like it’s for the most part translated to his catching as well. So I’m not worried about it,” Boone said. “We’re down to the final days here of the regular season, and what we hope is a long run in the postseason. And the bottom line is, he’s going to play a huge role in that and, and I look forward to him, hopefully helping us win a championship.”