Dunlap: Is Gerrit Cole Injured?
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - Think Gerrit Cole might be hurt?
Maybe?
Just maybe?
It certainly is something to give some consideration to.
We have gone all season as a Pirates fanbase as Andrew McCutchen has struggled and struggled and we have struggled with him. We have struggled to find an answer as to why he has had such a momentous dropoff in production, why his numbers dropped at the with the speed at which a piano falls from a second-story window in one of those old cartoons. Cutch isn't doing Cutch things and we scratch our heads seemingly on a nightly basis.
And what have some of us continually leaned on as a reason for the McCutchen dive in production? That he's hurt. That there's an injury. That something must be ailing Cutch because men who perform so well one season don't just have such an enormous fall from grace the next season without something bothering them physically.
So why can't we draw that same conclusion with Gerrit Cole? Why haven't the masses drawn that same conclusion with Cole?
It feels like all you hear is that his command is a tad bit off at times; that he's working the upper reaches of the strike zone and that has led to his pedestrian 2016.
Sorry, I'm not convinced.
Now, I understand the velocity isn't down with him, but that shouldn't be the lone indicator as to if someone is dealing with an injury.
In short, just because his pitches are travelling with the same speed, I'm not at all convinced Cole is pitching at 100 percent.
In fact, I'll go the other way with it. I think he's hurt. I think Gerrit Cole is still dealing with the aftermath of a triceps injury that forced him to the disabled list after exiting a game early on June 10 and didn't see him return for a little more than a month.
Will Gerrit Cole get back to the point this season where he does the things that we expect from him; where he dazzles hitters and causes them to look off-kilter and bewildered? Who knows.
But what I know is that I think this is all happening because he's not out there each outing at 100 percent. It's my opinion the guy has to be injured to some degree.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
