GOTTA END NOW!
Rays got to Cole in regular season, but now’s when it really counts
SAN DIEGO — There is luck involved, but conviction is necessary, too. Preparing to face Gerrit Cole, the high-velocity machine has to be cranked up over 100 miles an hour to simulate the spin, and aimed high across the chest and then again using off-speed stuff down at the knees.
Heading into Game 1 of the ALDS against the Rays, the Yankees need Cole to be their ace.
“That’s what we’re paying him for,” Luke Voit said Sunday before a workout at Petco Park.
But Cole struggles against this team. In three games this season, the Rays hit .294 with a .963 OPS against Cole. He pitched to a 4.96 ERA, allowing nine earned runs over 16.1 innings. He gave up five home runs, including two to Ji-Man Choi.
Choi, who is a career
8-for-15 with three home runs against Cole, said he just feels comfortable against him.
“He’s a great pitcher and I think facing him just brings the best out of me,” Choi said Sunday before the Rays’ workout. “Just with the experience last year with the playoffs, facing him two times this year, I guess the experience from the previous time makes me comfortable.” That’s rare.
So, the Daily News talked to a player, a hitting coach and a scout who were tasked with solving the Yankees’ ace this season to try to find out how they attacked him and why they think the Rays have had so much success against him.
“The key to facing Gerrit Cole? Hah! I wish I had an easy answer for that. I guess just hope he hits your bat,” one player who faced Cole a few times this season said with a laugh.
“Seriously, though, I think just swing at your pitch. His pitches are so good, and his command is good, you have to stick with your game plan,” the player continued. “He has four plus pitches and does his homework.”
A hitting coach who had to prepare his players to face Cole earlier this season said it was not comfortable facing Cole, but it was important to try to get them ready for what they would see.
“Easier said than done,” the hitting coach said. “Have to get ready and on time for the letter-high fastball. His (fastball) plays up due to his spin rate. So 97 is like 102. I’m sure the Rays have the pitching machine cranked up and in the upper half of the strike zone prepping for him.”
An advance scout who had to game plan against both Cole and the Rays lineup this season thinks the Rays are uniquely built to have success against a guy like Cole. He had a few thoughts on how they approach him.
“They have a core of aggressive, ambush, fastball hitters in (Willy) Adames, Choi, (Joey) Wendle, (Kevin) Kiermaier, (Randy) Arozarena, etc. This group is capable of jumping Cole’s fastball early,” the scout said. “They also have a group of good lowball hitters, capable of driving his curveball strikes and mistakes.
“They are incredibly balanced,” he added. “They have a way to attack Cole’s north-south approach, regardless of the hitter.” For Cole’s part, he had commented after the last time that he faced the Rays, it could be some familiarity. He pitched against them three times in the span of 23 days this season.
But that was not something he felt he needed to address going into tonight’s game.
“I’ve just tried to improve every time I’ve taken the ball as we’ve gone forward,” Cole said Sunday. “I guess with that I feel prepared going in. Familiarity on either side I think will play for some sort of advantage. Whoever is able to combat that I guess the most or use it to their advantage might have a slight edge. But it all comes down to execution: They have to execute swings and I have to execute pitches, so that’s probably where most of my focus will be.”
In the four starts after he faced the Rays, Cole was dominant against the Blue Jays and Orioles. He pitched to a 1.00 ERA, allowing two home runs over 27 innings. His last start against the Rays was the last before the Yankees paired him up with back-up catcher Kyle Higashioka instead of Gary Sanchez.
Cole, for his part, would like to forget about the Rays attacking him this season and draw on his experience from last postseason. For the Astros, Cole allowed one earned run over 15.1 innings pitched against the Rays.
“I mean… I was prepared to do my job… outside of that it’s in the past,” Cole said of the 2020 regular-season meetings. “So, I’ll try to come up the same way as I did last year, so I’ll just try to do that again, I guess.”