MIAMI – Two of the best young pitchers in baseball will take the mound tonight at Marlins Park, as the Pirates send Gerrit Cole out to take on Jose Fernandez. Cole enters tonight’s start with a 2.53 ERA, while Fernandez carries in a 2.82 ERA. Fernandez actually has the stronger numbers, with his 2.53 xFIP and his 13.4 K/9 showing off his dominance. Cole hasn’t pitched as well as his ERA has indicated, with a 4.03 xFIP and a 7.4 K/9.
There’s no questioning the skill of either pitcher though. These types of games always look like a classic pitcher’s duel beforehand, although Clint Hurdle notes that they don’t always turn out that way.
“I wait to see how the game unfolds, because I’ve come into some of these and the game has gone just as you expect it to, and it’s 1-0 or 2-1 and they’re making plays, they’re making pitches,” Hurdle said. “I’ve seen some games where one guy is out by the fourth… I think, like everybody else, we’re excited about the opportunity to compete against Fernandez, because he’s one of the best in the game.”
Fernandez has been one of the most dominant pitchers this year, ranking first among 102 qualified starters in K/9 and third in xFIP.
“Right on right, he’s tough. Velocity is firm and finish. The spin is real,” Hurdle said. “Left-handers seem to have better looks. We’ve only got a couple of them. I can’t get Liriano in the lineup. So we’re going to go at him, we’re going to stay with our game plan. We can get him if he makes some mistakes. We’ve got to hit him. You don’t want to miss the fastballs that you get early that are out over the plate.”
The Pirates have one of the best offenses in the game this year, ranking first in the NL in wOBA, wRC+, and second in WAR. But Hurdle pointed to this past weekend’s game against Yu Darvish as an example of how a top pitcher can shut a good offense down.
“He’s one of those dynamic guys, that if he gets his best game, it could be very similar to what we saw with Darvish the other day,” Hurdle said on Fernandez. “You’re not going to beat a good pitcher with his good stuff. The best you can do is hope to get nothing. You get nothing, your guy gives up nothing, and you play until those guys come out.”
While Cole’s advanced metrics haven’t matched his ERA, he has been strong lately. In his last four starts, he has a 1.04 ERA, although this also comes with a lower strikeout rate and a 4.12 xFIP. The low strikeout rate can be chalked up to a start in Colorado when he didn’t record a strikeout in seven innings. The other three starts saw a strikeout per inning, and an xFIP under 4.00.
Even if Cole hasn’t had his best stuff this year, this type of game is fun to watch, as it’s rare to see two young aces going up against each other.
Jeff Locke Reactions
Hurdle had high praise for Jeff Locke’s complete game last night, along with the performance from the offense and the defense.
“All in all, that may have been the best game I’ve ever watched in a Pirates uniform,” Hurdle said.
The performance was good to see from Locke, not just from a stats standpoint, but from a personal standpoint. Locke has faced inconsistencies and struggles throughout his career. He entered the season knowing that Pirates fans didn’t want him in the rotation, and entered last night probably knowing that the Pirates have several guys in Triple-A who could take his job soon. Hurdle mentioned that the entire team was happy to see Locke have that outing, after everything he’s gone through.
“When he came up that tunnel and came into this clubhouse, there was more joy on those men’s faces in that clubhouse than there was on his face, and there was a lot of joy on his face,” Hurdle said. “That speaks to the culture and the environment that these guys are creating, and they’re owning for one another. And they know what Jeff’s been through as best as they can. Only Jeff knows the road that he’s traveled, and the shoes that he’s walked in. However, his teammates have compassion, they have empathy, because they deal with it in their own situations from time to time.”
One side benefit to last night was that it gave the bullpen a night off. A.J. Schugel got up in the ninth inning, in the event that Locke couldn’t finish, but he didn’t get hot. The night off gave everyone some needed rest after the group had been overworked for most of the first two months.
“The bullpen is in a very strong spot right now. So that was a big help moving forward.”
Lineup
Here is the Pirates lineup for tonight’s game.
