Gerrit Cole (0-0, 0.00 ERA), the No. 1 overall pick of the 2011 draft will make his Major League Baseball debut tonight at 7:05 p.m. in front of the home fans at PNC Park for the Pittsburgh Pirates (37-26). He will face the reigning World Series champion San Francisco Giants in the first of a three-game series, which can be live streamed by clicking this link. Pirates fans psyched for Cole's debut can listen to the game on KDKA-FM 93.7, while Giants fans can hear the game on KNBR 680.
The rookie's debut is highly anticipated, thanks to scouting reports that rave about his raw stuff. Pirates catcher Russell Martin, when asked about Cole said, "I caught him a couple of times in spring training, and I like his makeup and his attitude. In my opinion, he's going to be a good pitcher for a long time, so this will be start No. 1 of a hopefully long and prosperous career."
Andrew McCutchen, the team's best and most prominent player, talked about Cole as well. "We're trying to win, and we figure everyone here is to help us do that. We know what Gerrit Cole is capable of doing, we saw it throughout spring training."
Cole will be opposed by another big-armed pitcher, Tim Lincecum (4-5, 4.75 ERA), who quickly rose to prominence as the Pirates are hoping Cole does. Pittsburgh will also hope that Cole avoids the precipitous fall that Lincecum has experienced.
Lincecum, a multiple-time Cy Young winner was bumped out of the rotation for the 2012 playoffs, and has been talked about this year as a future reliever. Still, he's in the rotation right now and coming off his best start of 2013. On June 4th, he went seven strong innings against the Toronto Blue Jays, striking ut six and limiting his control issues by walking only one.
Despite his strong outing, Lincecum's keeping his feet on the ground. "I've said it before, I'm not jumping up and down right now (after last week's start)," Lincecum said. "Tomorrow's another day for work."
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