Pittsburgh has reassigned Gerrit Cole to Triple-A after the former No. 1 overall pick threw 10 spring training innings.
Michael Sanserino of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette writes that Cole “believes he is ready to pitch in the major leagues and was upset by the reassignment,” but realistically he was always likely to begin this season in the minors considering he’s 22 years old with all of 13 starts above Double-A.
Cole has lived up to the hype since the Pirates selected him out of the UCLA and ranks as a top-10 prospect according to Baseball America, but so far the only players from the 2011 first round to reach the majors are Trevor Bauer and Dylan Bundy (and only briefly in both cases).
Cole was asked whether he thought service time considerations were the cause of his not making the Opening Day roster and replied that “maybe somebody else has a better idea about that.” However, given that he’s made just one start at Triple-A it’s awfully hard to assume the Pirates deciding he needs more time in the minors is anything but development based.
