Gerrit Cole struggled at times once again in Wednesday’s start, mainly against Vladimir Guerrero Jr., leaving Yankee fans still waiting to see Cole show his bonafide ace performance level.
After getting rocked for three runs in the first inning of the season following some visible frustration about the Opening Day ceremonies, Cole got burned by the long ball again on Wednesday against Toronto, and has now struggled in three straight starts, dating back to the Wild Card Game disaster against Boston in 2021.
Boomer says Cole’s struggles are likely sticky substance related, and the Yankees will regret signing him to a record contract.
“You’re paying him $36 million a year for him to be that guy,” Boomer said during Thursday’s show. “This is the guy you felt you needed to have at the top of that rotation. They’re gonna rue the day. They’re gonna rue it.
“He’s a bulldog, there’s no question about it. But he can’t use that Spider Tack, and it’s definitely affecting him.”
Cole definitely hasn’t looked like his peak self, but it’s hard to attribute that directly to Spider Tack, which was constantly attached to his name last season when Major League Baseball began cracking down on the use of sticky substances by pitchers. The crackdown began late in June of the 2021 season, and from July to September, he posted an impressive 2.87 ERA over 53.1 innings, with a ridiculous 1.76 FIP. Then, after suffering a hamstring injury against the Blue Jays on Sept. 7, he began to struggle, culminating in the early exit in the Wild Card Game.
When looking at the impact of sticky substances, or lack thereof, on a pitcher, many turn to spin rate to see if the pitcher is struggling without Spider Tack, or whatever substance they were previously using. Through two starts this season, Cole’s spin rate on his fastball and curveball are actually higher than his 2021 averages, but Cole has been using his slider more often than ever before, and his spin rate on that pitch is slightly lower than last year, but not by much (2,600 rpm to 2,520).
What does stand out about Cole’s struggles are the lack of hitters chasing his fastball so far this season, as his chase rate on his heater is at a career-low 17.2 percent. Again, the sample size is incredibly small and coming out of an abbreviated spring training, so the concern in regards to Cole could evaporate quickly. He has been burned by mistakes, sometimes getting burned even when he doesn’t make a mistake (see the second home run by Guerrero on Wednesday), and has settled in during both of his starts so far this season.
But Boomer still thinks the contract was a mistake, despite commending his ability to grind it out on Wednesday despite not having his best stuff.
“He battled through it,” Boomer said. “He did what a normal No. 1 pitcher should do…give his team a chance to win.”
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