Gerrit Cole

Lore & Background

Cole attended Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, California. In his sophomore year, he pitched for the school's junior varsity baseball team, allowing no runs in 45 innings pitched. He gained national attention while pitching for the varsity team in his junior year, as his fastball reached 94 mph. He reached 96 mph in a showcase for the best prep school talents, and close to 50 scouts attended the first game of his senior season.

In his senior year, Cole pitched to an 8–2 win–loss record and a 0.47 earned run average (ERA), while also recording 121 strikeouts in 75 innings. In 2008, USA Today named Cole to their All-USA high school baseball team. Baseball America rated him the 17th-best prospect available in the 2008 Major League Baseball draft. He was named the starting pitcher of the 2008 Orange County North-South All-Star Game.

After his senior year, the New York Yankees selected Cole in the first round, with the 28th overall selection, of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft, becoming the first player ever drafted out of Orange Lutheran High School. The Yankees were reportedly planning on offering Cole a $4 million signing bonus, which was above the recommended amount for the slot. As the Yankees planned to give Cole a large bonus to sign, they waited until the deadline to attempt to sign him.

By the time the deadline approached, Cole and his family had considered many variables, comparing players who sign out of high school to those who go to college, and decided to follow through with his commitment to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on a college baseball scholarship. Despite being represented by Scott Boras, and though the Yankees were believed to be ready to offer upwards of $4 million, Cole never negotiated with the Yankees, as he was determined to attend college.

He majored in political science with a minor in theater at UCLA and had serious thought of pursuing an acting career had he not become a professional baseball player. John Savage, coach of the UCLA Bruins, made Cole the team's Friday night starting pitcher in his freshman year. That season, Cole recorded a 4–8 win-loss record with a 3.49 ERA, collecting 104 strikeouts in 85 innings. Cole was a member of the 2009 United States collegiate national baseball team and was named to the 2010 Collegiate National Team roster.

Reader's Guide

Cole made his MLB debut in 2013 and was named the National League (NL) Rookie of the Month in September 2013. He was named the NL Pitcher of the Month for April 2015, and an MLB All-Star in 2015. The Pirates traded Cole to the Astros in the 2017–18 offseason. On September 18, 2019, Cole became the 18th pitcher in major league history to strike out at least 300 batters in a season. On December 16, 2019, the Yankees signed Cole to a franchise record nine-year, $324 million contract, the largest contract total in major league history for a pitcher. Cole is a member of the 2022 class of the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. He also is the franchise record-holder for strikeouts in a single season for both the Astros (326 strikeouts in 2019) and the Yankees (257 strikeouts in 2022). Cole won the 2023 American League (AL) Cy Young Award via unanimous vote.

Did You Know?

• Cole became the fourth pitcher since 1920 to drive in 2+ runs and earn the win in his Major League debut.
• He was the first Pirate to start his career with wins in his first four starts since Nick Maddox in 1907.
• Cole's $8 million signing bonus in 2011 was the highest signing bonus ever offered to a rookie at that time.