I'm not against any of the others, but . . . I fear we might be getting a little "Flavor of the Month-y"
Cole was identified as a "special talent" top-of-the-draft arm as a teenager. He dropped to the Yanks at #28 only because he made it clear it was big money or UCLA, and he followed through on that.
Cole has done nothing in college but reinforce the notion that he has big-time talent.
Year
IP
ERA
H/9
HR/9
BB/9
K/9
Frosh
85.0
3.49
6.0
1.1
4.0
11.0
Soph
123.0
3.37
6.7
0.3
3.8
11.2
Jr (to date)
65.0
2.22
5.8
0.6
1.5
10.4
Have Bauer and Hultzen made plateau-leaps? Sure. But Cole has too. He's cut his walks in half. He's reportedly using an effective change. He's reportedly much more mature about slicing up lineups rather than just out-muscling them.
And there's also the advantage of the guy who's already been on a big stage. Pitched in the College World Series with the ESPN national cameras and rung up 13 K in 8.0 IP. Got the start against Cuba in the Collegiate world championship final game: 7.0 IP, 0 ER.
To my mind, he started the year with the best upside and as the best percentage play among the pitchers, and I think he still is. The other guys are intriguing, but not enough, to me, to pass on Cole.
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