Inside The Pinstripes

'Disappointing': Gerrit Cole Evaluates Shortest Start of Career

Cole lasted just 1.2 innings on a chilly night in Detroit, tying his career high with five walks.

Max Goodman

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Speaking to members of the media at his locker in the visiting clubhouse at Comerica Park on Tuesday night, a dejected Gerrit Cole struggled to find the words to describe his performance.

Hours earlier, the Yankees ace was yanked after just 1.2 innings pitched, the shortest start of his big-league career. 

New York went on to win the game, bailed out by 7.1 shutout frames from the Yankees' bullpen, but Cole's frustration hadn't dissipated. 

"This game is obviously pretty disappointing," Cole told reporters.

After striking out the side in the first, Cole completely lost control of the strike zone in the second. 

Beginning with a base hit up the middle off the bat of Miguel Cabrera, Cole faced seven batters in the frame. He walked four of them, throwing a total of 46 pitches—the most he's ever thrown in a single inning of his career. 

Two earned runs came across for Detroit in that inning. Cole walked in a run with the bases loaded, losing Willi Castro after an 11-pitch at-bat. The other came on a sacrifice fly from Robbie Grossman.

Asked what was going through his mind when he saw manager Aaron Boone emerge from the first-base dugout, calling to the bullpen, Cole said "four letter words."

Cole was eager to make his third outing of the season, talking earlier in the week about how he was ready to build on his previous starts and poised to pitch deeper in the game with a more lenient pitch count. After an abbreviated spring, Cole had yet to throw more than 85 pitches in a game this season.

Instead, Cole threw just 68 pitches. It wasn't because of pitch count limitations. It was because of his inability to put hitters away.

"I think he just lost the strike zone a little bit," Boone said after the 4-2 victory. "Probably got a little bit out of his rhythm. Thought he was pretty sharp actually in the first inning and then the Willi Castro at-bat where he actually got ahead of them and started spoiling a lot of pitches and then eventually lost him. Was just missing around the zone a little bit and then started spraying his fastball a little bit."

Only 37 of Cole's 68 pitches were strikes. His five walks are tied for the most in a single start of his career. 

Boone added that he felt he left his ace in the game for too long. Cole countered that he's always going to pitch as deep into a game as he can. He did admit, however, that on a cold night in a very long inning, his legs were shaking before Boone came out to get him in the second.

"Certainly never had an inning like that in my career before," Cole said. "But it's not something that we can't get through."

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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