You take a quick look at Pirates starting pitcher prospect Gerrit Cole's stat line at Triple-A Indianapolis and you probably come away pretty impressed. Cole, who is considered a top 10 prospect by Baseball America (No. 7) and MLB.com (No. 9), is 2-1 with a 2.31 ERA and .205 opponents' batting average through five starts.
Unfortunately, it hasn't been entirely smooth sailing for the highly touted prospect. Cole issued four walks in his latest start Saturday and has now issued 15 walks through 23 1/3 innings, giving him a career-worst 5.8 walks per nine innings.
"I've only gone through the fifth inning twice. I don't care what the ERA is, I need to improve," Cole said, per MLB.com. "I'm not too pleased. I need more efficiency, more innings. I conditioned myself in the offseason, during the week, to eat a bunch of innings up and keep the bullpen fresh, so it's frustrating. Hopefully, I can get on track."