Gerrit Cole Blames the ABS System for His Poor Performance

Things aren't going well for Gerrit Cole these days. After giving up a home run to the first three batters of the game against the San Diego Padres last week, the starter got shelled like crazy on Saturday against the New York Mets.

In fact, the Mets have hit him more than any other team in his 296 career starts tracked by Statcast.

Mets hitters smashed no fewer than fourteen of his pitches at 95 mph or faster. Until this month, Cole had never allowed more than eleven hard-hit balls in a single start, but over three consecutive starts in September, Cole set a new record for hard-hit balls (12), tied his previous record (11), and set a new high (14).

And when searching for an explanation for his struggles, Cole blamed the ABS system.

I think overall, yes, it's been a little tough. I think it's hard to compare to previous years without the ABS. I think the chase and swing-and-miss rates might be down. So, trying to figure out where these numbers stand in relation to that environment is something we have to deal with.

Admittedly, the ABS system is a game-changer, but Cole isn't entirely correct. Walks have increased by 6.7% to reach their highest rate in a full season in fifteen years, but the strikeout rate has remained stable.

And what about swinging and missing at pitches outside the strike zone, as the 36-year-old claims?

MLB hitters are swinging at pitches out of the strike zone more this year than at any point in the past decade. The swing rate has risen from 31.5% last year to 32.9% this year. This is the first time in four years that this figure has increased.

Cole will therefore have to find a real solution to his problem and not just blame a system that has been in place since the start of this season for EVERYONE.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.