Revived Gerrit Cole enjoying fresh slate with Houston Astros

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — When agent Scott Boras met with Gerrit Cole for lunch recently, he noticed his client couldn’t stop smiling.

That happens when you go from a team in decline to the World Series champions.

Cole was traded to the Houston Astros in the offseason as part of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ revamping. He was a major contributor to the Pirates’ three consecutive playoff appearances, starting with the 2013 club that ended a streak of 20 losing seasons. In 2015, he became an All-Star and the staff ace, going 19-8 with a 2.60 ERA and finishing fourth in the NL Cy Young Award voting.

But as the Pirates stumbled below .500 the last two years despite franchise-high payrolls of nearly $100 million, their window of opportunity appeared to close and management decided to move assets such as Cole and former MVP Andrew McCutchen for prospects.

The trade was a boon to Cole, who landed on a club positioned for more championship runs. The loaded Astros are widely favored to repeat as American League West champs.

MLB SALARIES: Baseball's top 25 highest-paid players in 2024

“When a player has come up in his career and he’s had the ability to compete, to win, and then it’s taken away, and then it’s brought back, I think your appreciation of it is grandly (enhanced),’’ Boras said after the announcement of Jose Altuve’s $151 million contract extension.

Cole’s performance played a role in the Pirates’ downturn. He had three stints on the disabled list in 2016 and made just 21 starts, going 7-10 with a 3.88 ERA. Without an ace to rely on consistently, Pittsburgh’s rotation struggled, its ERA ballooning by more than a run.

Last year Cole was healthy and made a career-high 33 starts, but the results left something to be desired, as he went 12-12 with a 4.26 ERA. His strikeout rate of 8.7 per nine innings was identical to his breakout 2015 season, but his WHIP (walks and hits allowed per inning) climbed from 1.091 to 1.251.

Asked whether he had been able to address the issues that led to the diminished performance, Cole said it often came down to avoiding a mistake here and there.

“There’s a mental component to some of those games. It boils down to one or two pitches in those games,’’ Cole said. “There’s nothing to really address other than to understand every pitch is important and sometimes things just don’t go your way.

“But there’s way too much good work last year to say, ‘Man, I really need to make an overhaul. I really need to make some adjustments.’ There are some fine-tuning aspects like, ‘Why did this guy hit this pitch, and why wasn’t I able to see what the right pitch was and I threw the wrong pitch?’ That comes with preparation. That comes with catchers being on the same page with pitchers. Just a fresh perspective around here can really help turn those little details around really quickly.’’

The Astros gave up four young players to acquire Cole, 27, who comes with a reasonable $6.75 million price tag for this season and is two years away from free agency. His average fastball velocity has remained in the 96-97 mph range since he broke into the majors in 2013, and his spring stats — a 2.04 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 17⅔ innings — suggest he might be in line for a bounce-back season.

Plus, in Houston he won’t have to bear the burden of heading a staff. The Astros have two former Cy Young Award winners in Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel, who will slot ahead of him in the rotation.

“It’s impressive to be around guys with such accolades,’’ Cole said. “It’s a really cool opportunity.’’

MORE MLB COVERAGE:

OPENING DAY COUNTDOWN:Questions that need answers before the season starts

MLB POLITICS:Why the Braves sent top prospect Ronald Acuna to the minors

POWER RANKINGS:Defending World Series champion Astros begin season at No. 1