In the midst of an up-and-down season, Pittsburgh Pirates ace Gerrit Cole's season took another turn on Friday. After throwing just two innings, Cole was pulled from his start. It left many wondering what type of injury Cole was dealing with and how serious it might be.
Cole's departure with triceps tightness will certainly draw some concern by fans and fantasy owners because it is an injury to Cole's pitching arm. But it is still very early in the process and it is also important to note that neither Cole's forearm or elbow were listed as the issues.
An MRI over the weekend should present a much clearer idea of the severity of Cole's injury and how long the Pirates will be without their ace, if any time at all. If Cole was to miss at least one start, Pittsburgh could turn back to Jameson Tailon after he allowed just three earned runs and six hits in his six-inning MLB debut on Wednesday.
While Cole's 2.77 ERA this season is right along the lines of his 2.60 ERA from 2015, Cole's K/9 is down from 8.74 in 2015 to 7.06 this season and is significantly lower than his 9.0 K/9 from the 2014 season. Cole's also had command issues, as his BB/9 rose from 1.9/9 last season to 2.58 as of Friday.
For fantasy owners, the drop in numbers was already concerning enough, though Cole had three strikeouts through two innings tonight. But now Cole's arm injury becomes an even greater concern until further tests are done on Cole's triceps.