As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Cole chasing #150 amid struggles:
When veteran right-hander Gerrit Cole takes at Yankee Stadium this afternoon, he’ll do so in search of the 150th win of his career. Should he earn the win for tonight’s game, he’ll become just the fourth active big leaguer to reach the milestone, joining Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer. He’s scheduled to take on the Guardians and youngster Gavin Williams (5.02 ERA) at 1:05pm local time this afternoon in his next bid to make that trio a quartet.
It would be a welcome source of positivity in the midst of what has been a very difficult season for Cole. The 33-year-old missed the first ten weeks of the season due to an elbow injury and hasn’t looked like the dominant ace who won the AL Cy Young award last season in ten starts since returning. Over 52 innings of work, Cole has a pedestrian 4.15 ERA with a 4.20 FIP to match. While his 26.8% remains excellent, the righty’s 7.1% walk rate is a tick higher than normal and he’s struggled badly in terms of keeping the ball in the park, with nine home runs allowed already this season.
2. Series Preview: Astros @ Orioles
In what could prove to be a preview of a playoff series, the Astros are set to visit the Orioles for a three-game set that starts today. The set begins amid what has been a difficult month of August in Baltimore, as the club has won just one series so far this month with a 9-10 record over that time. Those struggles have allowed the Yankees to reclaim a half-game lead in the AL East race, leaving the Orioles to enter the upcoming series with an eye toward regaining the momentum that previously propelled them to run down New York earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the Astros are on the upswing in recent weeks with a 12-6 record since the calendar flipped to August and a solid five-game lead over the Mariners in the AL West. A series win against Baltimore could not only help Houston pad its division lead but help them as they look to move further up the overall standings to secure a top-2 record in the AL and the accompanying bye through the Wild Card Series. The Astros will send right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (5.20 ERA) to the mound tonight opposite Baltimore ace Corbin Burnes (3.10 ERA), though the club has not yet announced who will take the ball opposite youngster Cade Povich (5.77 ERA) tomorrow or journeyman Albert Suarez (3.18 ERA) on Saturday.
3. deGrom to begin rehab assignment:
Jacob deGrom hasn’t pitched in an official game since last May, but that’s expected to change tonight with the start of his rehab assignment at Double-A. While Rangers manager Bruce Bochy didn’t commit to a specific day for deGrom’s rehab to begin, deGrom himself indicated that he expected to take the ball today. Whether he ultimately begins his rehab today or tomorrow, it’s surely a huge relief for the 36-year-old to be returning to the mound over a year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
The Rangers’ postseason hopes are all but snuffed out at this late point in the schedule, but even so it will surely provide a huge boost to the club heading into 2025 if deGrom can return healthy and effective before season’s end. Often considered to be perhaps the best pitcher in the sport when healthy, the right-hander sports an incredible 2.08 ERA and 2.11 FIP dating all the way back to the 2018 season, when he won the first of two back-to-back NL Cy Young awards with the Mets. deGrom has struggled to stay on the field in recent years, with just 186 2/3 innings of work since the start of the 2021 season, but he’s been as dominant as ever in those limited innings with a 2.03 ERA and a mind-boggling 1.59 FIP in 32 starts.
Cole is a terrific pitcher, probably just going through a rough patch, now performing as a 3/4. The problem (for any team, even one as rich as the Yankees) is that it’s hard to pay that much money for a 3/4. Elbow injuries are scary. So, this rolls into his opt-out decision, If this is his level for the rest of the year, does he exercise the opt-out to induce the Yankees to void it by adding an additional year at $36M? The risk for him is they let him go. The risk for them….is that he leaves and returns to ace-level
I wish Cole luck, he is a champion of the game. Wish he was still with the Astros.
Have you ever had an expensive medical emergency, lost a job because you were in the hospital, got in a car wreck, and financed the next car with a 500something credit score so you could get to/from the lower paying replacement job? And the loan was eye-wateringly underwater the entire time until it was paid off, and compounded by more expensive auto insurance?
That’s what Jacob deGrom’s contract is like. Yikes
Jacob who?
TeePee
“That’s what Jacob deGrom’s contract is like”
Except you are a millionaire and none of that really matters
THAT’S what DeGrom’s contract looks like.
If it didn’t matter to degrom then why didn’t he sign for the veterans minimum to stay on the Mets?
Athletes don’t take less money, I wonder why lebron James hasn’t helped his team out significantly yet
Cole has only allowed 3 runs in 18 innings across his last 3 starts. A pair of ugly starts against the Mets make his overall numbers look pedestrian but he’s rounding back into form. Considering his injury and lack of spring training, I’d say he’s doing just fine
Cole’s numbers looking pretty similar to last year’s.
BB%: 5.8 to 7.1
K%: 27 to 26.8
Swinging strike%: 11.7% to 11.7%
xFIP+: 84 to 92
@ Nick Deeds : 1. Cole chasing #150 amid struggles: 2nd paragraph
While his 26.8% remains excellent,
Finishing first in your division is a bit over rated. It didn’t help Baltimore, LA, Atlanta or Houston last year. The two team in the WS were both wild card teams. Just get in the the PO and, who knows.
The hot team always wins in the postseason, regardless of seeding. This isn’t the late 90’s with the Yankees steamrolling through everyone with a payroll double and triple the size of most other teams.
Rsox – Nobody was hotter than the 2007 Rockies who were 21-1 heading into the World Series. So while it’s true the hottest team often wins in the postseason, it’s not always the case.
True. However, from September 21st to the end of the World Series the Rockies would go 16-5 while the Red Sox would go 17-6 so pretty even I’d say
Based on FIP, he hasn’t pitched terribly, aside from when he faces the Mets & Red Sox.
Devers torches the heck out of Cole, he alone does enough damage against Cole to make his starts against the Red Sox end up in a losing effort…
That Astros-Orioles series is 4 games. First game is tonight on Fox, though New Yorkers can’t see it because Fox is forcing Yankeeland to watch the Phillies. The 4th game is Sunday night on ESPN.
Cole was at his best using spider tack. Maybe he should do that again if he already is not?
Cole certainly wasn’t the only one using sticky stuff.
He doesn’t and the Yankees perhaps renogiates his tenth-year option into a vesting option. Or they can guarantee the tenth year with a lower salary to reduce his overall AAV. It may make mathematical sense to do so if they plan to keep exceeding the CBT thresholds.
Yankees have money coming off the books, as you said YankeesBleacherCreature, Cashman will get creative to keep Cole an extra year and to pay for Soto.
No chance Cole opts out. He won’t get even close in free agency, to what he’s currently owed.