More bad news for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as they send ace pitcher Gerrit Cole to the disabled list.
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Gerrit Cole left his start early last Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals with an injury to his right triceps. The Pirates thought a couple of extra days of rest could get Cole back on track, but he has now hit the disabled list because of the issue.
Top pitching prospect Jamison Tallion has been brought up to take Cole’s spot on the roster, and will start on Tuesday night against the Mets.
Cole’s injury is not expected to be overly serious right now, as the Pirates called the injury a “right triceps muscle strain” and expect him to be back when the 15-day DL stint is complete.
However, any injury to a pitcher’s throwing arm is extremely scary. We have seen many times in the past where a triceps or foreman issue becomes a significant elbow injury. This does not appear to be that kind of situation here, but the Pirates are undoubtedly doing the right thing in shutting down Cole for now.
Despite being among the most talented teams in the National League, the Pirates have really struggled recently. They just got swept in three games against the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend, and now sit at 32-31 on the season, and 11.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs for the lead in the NL Central.
Losing Cole is going to be a huge blow for this team, as he is the clear leader of the rotation. Losing an ace pitcher is always tough, but for a team struggling as bad as the Pirates, it could end up being the death-blow on the 2016 season if he misses more time than is anticipated.
Hopefully, Cole’s injury remains to be minor and he returns to the field quickly. While there is still a lot of baseball to be played, if the Pirates continue to struggle, they may not be able to dig themselves out of this hole down the stretch.
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