Yankees' Gerrit Cole gets 'pretty special feeling' upon his return to Pittsburgh, PNC Park

Gerrit Cole worked 782¹⁄₃ innings for the Pirates in five seasons, more than the combined total he has accumulated pitching for the Houston Astros and New York Yankees since leaving Pittsburgh.

That’s a lot of pitches, significant stress on his right arm and legs — his mind, too — and great gobs of success (124 career victories, 1,790 strikeouts) and some failure.

Gerrit Cole, enjoying a walk through his memories of Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/9c2JUI5k91

— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) July 5, 2022

Back in town Tuesday night with the Yankees, Cole won’t pitch in this two-game series. A rainout altered the Yankees’ starting rotation and ended his hopes to get back on the mound at PNC Park this season.

“I was slated for this one until the rainout and the shuffle. I had it circled,” he said in the Yankees dugout before the game. “I’ve gotta take care of Boston in a couple days, but I do wish to pitch here at some point again. That’ll be really exciting.”

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole talks about what a tight group the Pirates had during their 2013-15 playoff seasons. pic.twitter.com/EUwjXQtU3E

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) July 5, 2022

During his nearly 25-minute chat (more that than an interview) with reporters, he looked toward the field at PNC Park, recalling wistfully those three playoff seasons (2013-15) when he won 41 games, including one against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Divisional Series.

“A lot of good memories,” he said. “We really fought hard for the fan base here. We really embraced it and did the best we could. We were tough. We played through a lot of injuries. We played through a lot of stuff. We got a lot of stuff done.

“Ultimately, we came up short. The elation … we shared, I feel like we were able to share it with the fans.”

After the 2017 season, the Pirates, fearful of the high price of premium starting pitching, traded Cole to the Houston Astros for four players who are no longer with the team (Joe Musgrove and Colin Moran were regulars for three and four seasons, respectively). In 2019, Cole signed a record-breaking nine-year, $324 million contract with the Yankees.

Cole said his pitching repertoire and maturity level have changed.

“Always kind of working on fine-tuning the demeanor and the arsenal. Throwing (fewer) fastballs than I used to,” he said. “Still same goals in mind, trying to get that (World Series) ring, trying to pitch as deep as I can into ballgames and carry as much load as I can.”

He is carrying a 7-2 record, 2.99 ERA, 1.007 WHIP and 117 strikeouts in 93¹⁄₃ innings. He has worked into the seventh five times.

He said continued improvement as a pitcher always is the goal.

“It’s just one of those things that it’s never quite perfected, and you have to keep chipping at it,” he said. “But the veterans that we had here when I came up were so influential in terms of structuring my routine and how to go about business here.

“Life is a lot simpler as a rookie when Charlie (Morton) is taking you under his wing, you’re watching AJ (Burnett) and Francisco (Cervelli), then you also have Russell Martin backing you up and taking over most of the game-calling and situational duties. It allows you to settle in. Watching those guys work, some of them at the tail end of their careers and still having to perform at a high level but have to prepare, just kind of laid the groundwork for a lot of the processes that I have and how I go about my business.”

He said many friendships remain, and he admitted to being disappointed that the retired Neil Walker was out of town.

“Kind of bummed Neil isn’t here. Don’t know why he’s in Colorado,” Cole said. “Felt like he should have left there and come back to see us.”

He said he remembers his first pitch at PNC Park on June 11, 2013: He caught the San Francisco Giants’ Gregor Blanco looking before striking him out swinging.

Then, there was the 2015 National League wild-card game with the Chicago Cubs on Oct. 7, perhaps the day of Cole’s greatest regret as a Pirates player.

“I’d probably take back that slider to (Kyle) Schwarber, to be honest,” he said of the two-run homer that gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead on the way to a 4-0 victory. The Pirates haven’t returned to the postseason since that night.

“(Schwarber’s homer) was kind of a dagger for us. That pitch was tough, and that game was tough.”

Nonetheless, he said he had a “pretty special feeling” walking around town Monday with his wife and daughter.

“It’s a bit surreal. The last time we left, we felt like we were just kids. Now we have a 2-year-old.”