Gerrit Cole arrives

Gerrit Cole makes his Pirates debut tonight against the San Francisco Giants at PNC Park and it made me think a bit about things.
Is this the beginning of the Neal Huntington plan to return the Pirates to prominence? Or is this beginning of a run that will send Huntington to the unemployment line and the Pirates to yet another rebuilding plan?

The former first overall pick is expected to be the linchpin of an eventual powerhouse rotation that with Jameson Taillon could give Pittsburgh a one -two combination that makes the Pirates a contender,but will it happen?
Kris Benson was supposed to be the same type of number one starter and he only showed glimpses of the potential that he was supposed to have,could Cole be headed to the same fate?

Cole certainly has the stuff to be just that type of starter,but between his days at UCLA and in his minor league career,something has seemed to be missing.
His numbers were good enough,very solid in fact,but sometimes something seemed to be missing.
Could Cole be one of those pitchers that has all the parts that somehow doesn't have them all mesh perfectly?
Possibly,but I think that Cole is going to be fine.
Sure,his fastball can be straight and that is going to lend itself to the occasional lighting up,but Cole has the type of arm that makes me think of Justin Verlander and that is a serious ace in the making.

Gerrit Cole just might be the most important of all the Pirates prospects for one reason.
Cole is the player that might show that the Huntington plan is working.
Jameson Taillon was always going to be a long term project,Tony Sanchez was an ill fated idea to select a player on the cheap,although Sanchez is playing well for Indianapolis and Pedro Alvarez will be remembered for not being Buster Posey as much as his long homers.
If Gerrit Cole is what he could be,tonight's start is the beginning of a promising future for the Pirates,but if not,this could be a very worrisome setback for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Photo Credit:Bill Gentry