Table of Biography
Gerrit Cole is a professional American baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Previously he played for Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros.
Early Life and Childhood
The age of Gerrit Cole Christian is 33 years old. Born on September 8, 1990, Cole is the elder son of Mark and Sharon Cole. He is from Newport Beach, California, and has a younger sister Erin Cole.
His father, who was raised in Syracuse, New York, is a big fan of the Yankees. He passed down the affinity to his son who has been supporting the Yankees since a very young age.
Education
Cole went to Orange Lutheran High School where he started his amateur career. He pitched for the school’s junior varsity baseball team as a sophomore. However, it was in his junior year when he got national attention for his fastball that reached 94 miles per hour.
Moreover, in his senior year, he earned an average run of 0.47 with 121 strikeouts in 75 innings. Following his senior year, USA Today named Cole to their All-USA high school baseball team in 2008. In the same year, he got selected by the New York Yankees for the 2008 Major League Baseball draft.
The Yankees even offered a $4 million signing bonus. However, Cole with his family decided to attend higher education. Consequently, he joined the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on a college baseball scholarship.
Beginning in his freshman year, UCLA coach John Savage, selected Cole to be the college team’s pitcher. Later in 2009, he became a member of the United States collegiate national baseball team.
Similarly, in 2010, he was named to the United States collegiate national baseball team and played in the 2010 World University Baseball Championship. The year 2010 turned out to be great for Cole with a record 3.37 ERA, and 153 strikeouts in 123 innings. However, his statistics declined in the following year.
Caption: Gerrit Cole Christian with fellow Astros player Justin Verlander
Source: dodgerblue
Gerrit Cole Christian – Professional Life
Heading into the 2011 MLB draft, The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Cole as the first overall selection. The Pittsburgh Pirates offered him the highest bonus ever offered to a rookie of $8 million for a minor league. Later in 2012, he trained with the Bradenton Marauders of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League.
He then transferred to the Altoona Curve of the Class AA Eastern League. Finally, on August 29, 2012, the Pirated promoted him to Indianapolis Indians of the Class AAA International League on
Pittsburgh Pirates
In 2013, the Pirates’ two major players James McDonald and Wandy Rodríguez got injured. As a result, Cole debuted in the major league. The Pirates won this game over the San Francisco Giants with Cole being the first Pirate to start his career with wins in his first four starts since Nick Maddox in 1907.
Fastball was Cole’s core strength. But in 2014 spring training, he also worked on improving his curveball and slider. Cole was a durable pitcher in 2014 until he had a shoulder injury on June 7 that called for a 15-day rest. However, he recovered soon and continued on June 28. In September of the same year, Cole hit his career’s first home run at Wrigley Field off of Chicago Cubs.
Cole played for the Pirates as one of their best choices to start the games until January 13, 2018. On this day, the Pirates traded Cole to Huston Astros.
Huston Astros
Cole began playing for the Astros in April and in the very first month, he broke the Astros strikeout record for April with 61 strikeouts. He completed his first month with 61 strikeouts and a 1.73 ERA in 41.2 innings pitched. In the same year, he made his debut in the American League All-Star and finished the season with 278 strikeouts.
The year 2019 was full of achievements for Cole. He became the second pitcher ever to strike out 14 or more hitters in three consecutive games on his 29th birthday. Moreover, on September 18, 2019, he struck out his 300th batter of the season.
Not to miss, he became the Astros’ only pitcher to break the single-season strikeout record with 14 batters struck out. He finished the 2019 season with a 20–5 record and a 0.895 WHIP. He even top-listed the American League with a 2.50 ERA.
New York Yankees
Recently on December 18, 2019, Cole got to be a part of the team he supported as a child. The New York Yankees signed a nine-year contract worth $324 million with Cole. The contract has the highest average annual value of any player contract in Major League Baseball which is $245 million.
Gerrit Cole Christian – Awards
Gerrit Cole Christian has been an amazing baseball player and has received several recognizations. We have mentioned here a few of his awards. In September 2013, Cole was voted the National League (NL) Rookie of the Month. Similarly, he also won the April 2015 NL Pitcher of the Month Award for April 2015.
Gerrit Cole Christian – Net Worth 2024
Furthermore, most of Gerrit Cole Christian’s earning comes from his baseball career. Before signing with the Yankees, he had earned around $25 million during his time in the MLB. Nevertheless, his current net worth is around $20 million. He has owned three luxurious cars. Talking about his brand endorsements, he hasn’t endorsed any brands or products. Being a rising star, it is sure that we can see him as the brand ambassador of several top brands very soon.
Personal Life
Gerrit Cole Christian is married to his long-term girlfriend Amy Crawford. The couple first met at UCLA and got married in November 2016. They had a private wedding in Newport Beach California with family only. The duo frequently visits the world’s most expensive holiday destinations on their vacation which intimates they share a lavish lifestyle.
Since that beautiful day, the couple has been living a blissful life together. Recently on Instagram, the couple announced they were expecting a baby boy this summer.
Caption: Gerrit Cole Christian with wife
Source: Heavy
Scandals
The media is always curious about the lives of great stars. Gerrit Cole Christian is one of the best American pitchers and has been a topic of concern for the media. As for recent times, Cole busted out the sign that read “YANKEE FAN TODAY TOMORROW FOREVER” at the Yankee Stadium news conference. He claimed it to be the same sign he was photographed with as an 11-year-old at the 2001 World Series. However, the internet debated its authenticity.
Body Measurements
As a professional sportsman, Gerrit Cole Christian has an athletic body. He stands 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs around 109kgs. Similarly, some of his other body features include hazel eyes and brown hair.
Caption: Scott Boras (L) and Hal Steinbrenner (L-C) look on as Gerrit Cole holds a sign from his youth with Amy Cole as the New York Yankees hold a press conference introducing their new pitcher Wednesday at Yankee Stadium in New York City. Source: UPI
Social Media
Cole is active on different social media sites like Twitter and Instagram. But he does not have a Facebook profile. His Instagram @gerritcole45 has 200k followers whereas Twitter @GerritCole45 has 66.4k followers.