2020 Fantasy Baseball: Gerrit Cole is the Best in the Game
The No. 1 overall pick back in 2011, Gerrit Cole had a promising start to his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. A down year in 2016 led to another flop in 2017. He was shipped off to the Houston Astros and he’s been lights out ever since. Cole enjoyed a career season in 2018 (15-5 with a 2.88 ERA and 276 Ks over 200.1 innings) then he took it to another level in 2019.
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He led the American League in ERA (2.50), strikeouts (326), and Ks/9 (13.8). The only problem he faced was allowing too many HRs (29, 1.2 per nine). He also set a career-high in wins (20). Cole demolished both RH (.198 BAA) and LH (.175 BAA) hitters.
It came as a bit of a surprise since he had a rocky start over the first two months of the season due to a couple really bad starts. His failure came from 12 HRs allowed over this span. Over his final 21 starts, Cole gave up two runs or less in 19 starts. That stretch led to his ERA improving to 1.73 and he added 214 Ks over 140.2 innings. Cole had 10 or more strikeouts in each of his last nine regular season starts. He went 15-0 after June 13. In the postseason, Cole threw another 36.2 innings (1.72 ERA and 47 Ks). His AFB (97.4) was a career-best with batters hitting .175 against it. He had strength in his slider (.179 BAA) and curveball (.199 BAA) plus a show-me changeup (.234 BAA).
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Cole is a workhorse who is always tough to hit. His arrival to the New York Yankees and the AL East might hurt his numbers with some regression in his ERA. 2019 will be a difficult season to replicate, but Cole will still be the top pitcher drafted across all formats ahead of the 2020 season. Don't have any concerns about a shortened season, as it should be a benefit for him. He is joining a team with a high-scoring offense and strong bullpen. Cole should accumulate 20 or more wins with an excellent ERA and somewhere near 300 Ks.
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