Author Topic: Follow the Prospects: A.J. "Taylor" Cole, RHP  (Read 45080 times)

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Offline blue911

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #125: January 17, 2013, 08:51:03 AM »
He really struggled last year, not sure he's as highly regarded as when we traded him.

 Even when he struggled at the start of the season he had good K/BB rates along with a decent K/9. He lost his arm slot, I'm not sure it's that big of a deal.

Offline zimm_da_kid

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #126: January 17, 2013, 09:52:06 AM »
What i love about Cole in addition to his mid 90's velo, he also has superb control

Offline Slateman

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #127: January 17, 2013, 08:21:37 PM »
He hasn't thrown a single pitch and he's had TJ surgery. He's a complete unknown.

Shhh ... your logic is no good here

Offline Tokeydog

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #128: February 05, 2013, 01:47:50 PM »
ESPN top 100:

#89
Quote
Cole was traded to Oakland before the 2012 season in the Gio Gonzalez deal, had a disastrous first half in high Class A, found himself demoted to low A where he threw as well as you'd expect, then was dealt back to Washington in this winter's three-team deal involving Michael Morse and John Jaso.

He seemed off when I saw him in March, missing a few miles per hour off his fastball and struggling to keep his arm slot up, but his issues in the Cal League went beyond that, with his stuff less crisp across the board and real trouble dealing with adversity on the mound. After his demotion, his stuff ticked back up into the mid-90s and he'd flash an above-average curve and changeup, throwing more strikes and pitching with confidence again. His arm can get deep on the back side while he gets too short out front, less than ideal for a 6-foot-4 pitcher who should be extending over his front side to release the ball closer to the plate.

His ceiling is still extremely high, but 2012 was a huge setback, and his probability of reaching the ceiling of a top 20 pitcher in the league, is a lot lower than it seemed to be last winter.

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #129: March 28, 2013, 03:36:28 PM »
Fantasy oriented scouting report, but some interesting discussion of his mechanics, velocity, and projectability:
http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/spring-pitchers-duel-jarred-cosart-vs-a-j-cole/
Quote
   Spring Pitcher’s Duel: Jarred Cosart vs. A.J. Coleby Al Skorupa - March 28, 2013

On my last day down at Spring Training I was lucky enough to catch two high profile pitching prospects face each other in a minor league game at Astros camp in Kissimmee. Houston power arm Jarred Cosart opposed the also highly regarded A.J. Cole of the Washington Nationals. I thought today I’d provide a little breakdown of those two pitchers and how they can potentially help your fantasy team.

. . .

A.J. Cole
The Breakdown: Cole

Also a high school draftee, Cole was highly regarded entering his draft year but fell to the 4th round in large part due to high bonus demands. Cole was traded to the Athletics last year as part of the package for left-hander Gio Gonzalez. He fell apart mechanically and his stuff, velo and results suffered. Following a demotion he fixed some problems and finished the year strong. This offseason the Nats reacquired Cole as part of the three way trade sending Michael Morse to Seattle and John Jaso to Oakland. The delivery appears to still be very much a work in progress. Hitters remarked that he had obviously changed his mechanics from when they had seen him in 2013. Indeed, Cole was having some problems repeating his delivery and he looked almost uncomfortable as if he was still feeling himself out. His mechanics were definitely something he was thinking about, not something that was coming to him naturally. That’s not a good place to be in for an athlete. Cole very much showed flashes of what his appeal is, though. This is the kind of big, projectable pitcher’s frame you look for. He’s fairly tough to pick up at times but he often leaked open early and that gave hitters a very clean look. All three pitches come out of the same arm slot and delivery and if he can figure things out mechanically he’s going to be a good big league starter. The fastball was 89-92 but touched higher and that surprised me as talent evaluators I talked to had him much harder in the past. He left too many fastballs out over the plate that got hit hard but I think a significant amount of that was related to the mechanical issues. The curveball (73-75 mph) was inconsistent and often had loose spin and no bite. Cole had very little faith in his change up this day and left some dead straight hard change ups right over the plate. He did snap off some good curves and a couple tough changes. I’m inclined to chalk most of this up to the fact it’s only Spring training and he was clearly working on some things. There’s the potential for an above average big league starter here, but right now that outcome is a long way away.

The Path to Playing Time: Cole

Cole should head back to A-ball and I’d imagine he’ll start the year at Potomac in the Carolina League. The path to the majors isn’t clear here and it seems like 2013 will be an important developmental year. The future can still be bright, though, and this would be a good time to buy low on a fairly high ceiling arm.

•On 40 Man Roster: No
•Options Remaining: 3
What to Expect: Cole

•Mixed League Value: Nothing for now, but projects as a usable mixed league SP at least.
•NL Only League Value: If Cole gets straightened out he’ll hold good value once he reaches the majors.
•Ottoneu Value: Can be an above average SP in time.

. . . Cole is a long term project, but could be a 3 starter or perhaps better if the Nationals get him back to what he does well.

Thanks for reading – AS





Offline zimm_da_kid

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #130: April 13, 2013, 11:15:31 PM »
pretty good game pitched tonight.

6IP 6H 2R 1ER 1BB 3K

Offline Smithian

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #131: May 03, 2013, 03:31:22 PM »
How's he doing?

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #132: May 03, 2013, 09:20:02 PM »
He dominated tonight in Woodbridge.

6 IP 4 H 0 R 0 BB 9 K. wow

Offline cmdterps44

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #133: May 03, 2013, 10:25:39 PM »
He dominated tonight in Woodbridge.

6 IP 4 H 0 R 0 BB 9 K. wow


Offline hammondsnats

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #134: May 05, 2013, 12:14:14 PM »
My fave


Offline Tyler Durden

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #136: May 06, 2013, 09:44:54 PM »
http://nationalsprospects.com/2013/05/a-j-cole-named-carolina-league-pitcher-of-the-week/

Cole has 34 K's and only 6 walks in 32 innings.  Pretty good.

Offline Slateman

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #137: May 07, 2013, 07:06:48 AM »
Call him up

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #138: May 10, 2013, 08:47:48 PM »
Another good start from Cole:

5 IP 5 H 1 ER 3 BB 7 K

Offline Lintyfresh85

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #139: May 11, 2013, 01:28:52 AM »
A 1.60 WHIP isn't good.

Offline blue911

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #140: May 11, 2013, 07:37:59 AM »
A 1.60 WHIP isn't good.

He also hit a batter. He faced 22 batters in 5 innings, I would classify that as a bad outing that he got away with.

Offline imref

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #141: May 24, 2013, 08:06:18 AM »
Last night:  5IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 5K, HR, gave up 2ER in the first 5, started the 6th but couldn't register an out before getting pulled.

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #142: May 28, 2013, 09:06:49 PM »
6 IP 7 H 2 ER 0 BB 4 K tonight for Cole.

Offline Terpfan76

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #143: May 28, 2013, 11:16:28 PM »
6 IP 7 H 2 ER 0 BB 4 K tonight for Cole.


I really think he can be a frontline starter.

Offline imref

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #144: June 08, 2013, 08:53:59 PM »
7ks through 3ip so far tonight. 3 hits, 1 run on a mobster shot to rf.  looks really good.

Doing a really nice job mixing speeds from what I can tell.

Update.  5ip, 10k, 3 hits, 1R. I think he's done. 

Another update. 6 ip. 11k 2 bb 3h.  Done. Pnats look to win their 10th in a row. 

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #145: June 08, 2013, 10:15:58 PM »
good to see. :clap:

Offline daggerrrrrr

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #146: June 08, 2013, 10:24:11 PM »
 :minigunz: Cole was in the zone tonight.

Offline imref

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #147: June 09, 2013, 12:18:31 AM »
it was a really great game, P-nats trailed 1-0 after 5 1/2, then scored 4 in the bottom of the 6th to set Cole up for the win.   Then, the bullpen took over and almost blew it.   Derek Self got the first out in the 7th, then promptly loaded the bases, threw a bunch of wild pitches, and walked in a run to make it 4-2.  They called on Rob Wort and his 7+ ERA to finish it out.  With the bases loaded he walked the first guy he faced to make it 4-3, then he went 3-0 on the next guy before striking him out.  The final batter grounded to the SS who pumped to 2nd and realizing he had no play went to first to end it.  Potomac wins its 10th in a row and sweeps the double header.

Potomac really resembles the big club - outstanding rotation, crappy bullpen, and mediocre offense.

Offline TigerFan

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #148: June 09, 2013, 08:49:05 AM »
Potomac really resembles the big club - outstanding rotation, crappy bullpen, and mediocre offense.

I wish the big club would reel off ten in a row. 

Offline Mr Clean

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #149: June 13, 2013, 08:45:07 PM »
Tonight so far:

5 IP 2 hits  0 runs  2 bb  6 Ks