Cole has had Jays’ number — but they might be catching up
When Gerrit Cole takes the mound for the New York Yankees on Wednesday, it will mark the Cy Young Award candidate’s most significant start ever against the Blue Jays in a nine-year career.
The 31-year-old right-hander has pitched against Toronto eight times. But when he goes head-to-head with José Berríos on the second night of a three-game series with playoff implications, it will be Cole’s first start at the Rogers Centre.
“It’s always challenging, but pretty fun facing one of the best in the game,” Blue Jay Cavan Biggio said ahead of Tuesday’s series opener.
Cole has had the upper hand on the Jays statistically throughout his career, including stops with the Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates. And the game will likely be the last chance to strengthen his case for the AL Cy Young, a two-way race with the Jays’ Robbie Ray, scheduled to start the series finale on Thursday.
From 2013 to 2020, Cole faced the Jays four times: once with the Pirates in 2014, once with the Astros in 2019 and twice with the Yankees last September. He has doubled that total since then, giving Jays hitters a good look at what they might expect to see.
Overall, though, he has dominated:
> Five wins in six decisions against the Jays.
> 2.81 ERA in 48 innings.
> 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings, with just 11 total walks.
> .200/.249/.343 opponents’ slashline, for a stingy .592 OPS.
The Jays’ averages against him this year are almost identical (.202/.250/.357), but the difference has been home runs.
After just two long balls off Cole before this year, Jays batters have hit four in 2021 — and all of them have either tied the game or put them in the lead. Cole gave up a home run to Alejandro Kirk in his last start against the Jays, which he left after 3 2⁄3 innings with a hamstring injury. His ERA against the Jays this season is about the same as his career mark head-to-head (2.74), but the strikeouts are down (8.6 per nine).
Biggio said it’s hard to game plan for a guy like Cole, who can do so many things on the mound with an arsenal of plus pitches: fastball, slider, curve, changeup.
“My mindset off of him is … get him in the zone and be ready for that heater, and try to react to anything else that he shows me,” Biggio said.
Jays hitting coach Guillermo Martínez added that facing Cole four times this season has given hitters a good idea of what to expect Wednesday.
“If it’s in the zone, we’re going to be ready to attack,” Martínez said. “We’re an aggressive team. We’ve got a lot of bat speed and strength in our lineup, and one mistake can change the game for our guys.”