Tonight when Gerrit Cole takes the mound for the New York Yankees against the Baltimore Orioles, all eyes will be on who will be catching him. Earlier in the spring, manager Aaron Boone said that Kyle Higashioka would no longer be Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher.
The controversy arose when it was determined that Cole pitched better when paired with Higashioka behind the plate. Last season when pitching to Gary Sanchez, Cole had an ERA of 3.91, but when pitching to Higashioka, his ERA was 1.00 in his last four starts of the regular season. Higashioka also caught Cole’s 3 post-season starts with an ERA of 2.