Cole surrendered seven earned runs in five innings against the Mets on Friday, allowing three homers for the second straight start. He gave up eight hits and two walks while striking out six.
He's struggled in his last three starts, getting torched for 16 earned runs in 14.2 innings. Cole has already been slammed for 15 home runs, four more round trippers than he's ever given up in a full season. Lucas Duda has touched him up for three homers in the last week alone. The hard-throwing righty offers a career-best fastball velocity (96.1 mph) but his 35 percent hard-contact rate is well above his career mark (29 percent). Whether he's tipping pitches, struggling with pitch sequencing, or simply going through a rough patch, Cole's value to the Pirates or even a trade partner is currently trending downward.