Eye-Popping Stats Prove Gerrit Cole is the Velocity King Among MLB Starters

Whatever the Houston Astros are doing with their starting pitchers, it’s definitely working.

After revitalizing Justin Verlander back in 2017 when they acquired him from the Tigers at the trade deadline, they can now add Gerrit Cole to their list of fully improved hurlers. The former Pittsburgh Pirate has brought the heat with insane consistency this year. He’s the only pitcher to record a strikeout with a 100 MPH or faster, and he’s done it a whopping six times now, proving that he’s the league’s premier velocity starter.

It’s a stunning statistic. Not only is he burning the ball into the zone, but he’s doing it with great success.

Cole’s throwing his heater with way more giddy-up in Houston than he did back in Pittsburgh. In 2017 while with the Pirates, he averaged 95.9 mph on his four-seam fastball. He’s taken it to a new level with the Astros, though. Cole averaged 96.5 MPH on the pitch in 2018, and he’s up to 96.9 MPH this year.

He’s also generated a 36.9% whiff percentage with the fastball, up from his mark of 29.7% last year. Even that was nearly 10% higher than his next best season.

He’s been able to put batters away with the fastball through sheer force of will this year. He doesn’t have to beat batters with his off-speed pitches because he can simply blow it right by them. Gerrit Cole truly is the velocity king among the starters of the league.