Gerrit Cole, for years, has been regarded as one of MLB’s top starting pitchers, winning two legs of the AL’s pitching Triple Crown in 2019 while finishing second to teammate Justin Verlander in that year’s Cy Young voting. But he’s never been a particularly inviting presence, as evidenced by his guarded nature in interviews and gruff, bordering on hostile mound demeanor (a trait Twins slugger Josh Donaldson knows all too well), even chewing out his own manager Aaron Boone when he tried to pull him from a start earlier this month.
The 30-year-old was recently selected to his fourth All-Star team and though his American League roster spot ultimately went to Rays reliever Andrew Kittredge (Cole needed a breather after throwing 129 pitches in his previous start Saturday night), the right-hander still attended this week’s All-Star festivities in Denver. As detailed in entertaining fashion by J.D. Martinez, Cole apparently wasn’t interested in fraternizing with Red Sox players, snubbing them on the bus to Coors Field for Monday night’s Home Run Derby.
“Me, [Xander] Bogaerts and [Rafael] Devers say, ‘Hey, how are you?’” said Martinez, describing his uncomfortable encounter with Cole to Blue Jays All-Stars Teoscar Hernandez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The Red Sox DH then took several steps forward, mimicking Cole by walking with his head down and not making eye contact.
A central figure in baseball’s foreign substance saga, it’s easy to see why Cole would be cagey toward other players, particularly members of a division rival. Clearly the Yankees ace was in no mood to shoot the breeze with Martinez, who took Cole deep when he visited Fenway last month (Devers also homered off him that game). Cole will look to avenge his earlier loss to Boston Saturday night, weather permitting (first pitch, originally slated for 7:15 PM ET, was delayed due to wet conditions in the Bronx).
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