Gerrit Cole vs Miguel Cabrera, a breakdown
What Happened
Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees takes the mound to face future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers. The game is tied late, with high stakes on the line. Cole starts by challenging Cabrera with a fastball on the inside corner, but it sails a bit too far outside. The catcher, Kyle Higashioka, quickly throws the ball over Cole's head, a strategy to make him forget about the missed pitch. Cole composes himself and tries a curveball, but he yanks it badly. He then goes to a changeup, which Cabrera fouls back. Knowing he needs to make a quality pitch, Cole decides to challenge Cabrera with a 99 mph fastball right down the middle. Cabrera respects the pitch, saying "Nice pitch, man." Cole continues to mix in offspeed pitches, including a slider that he isn't happy with. Now in a full-count situation, the crowd is on the edge of their seats. Cole decides to go with a changeup, completely fooling Cabrera, who says "You got me, I thought you were going to challenge me with the fastball again." Cole's excellent pitch sequencing and location have bested one of the game's all-time greats. The matchup between these two legends has been a chess match, with Cole making the right adjustments and Cabrera showing the utmost respect for his opponent's skill. This classic duel encapsulates the intense, cerebral nature of high-level baseball, as two masters of their craft go head-to-head with the game on the line.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentgarrett cole versus miguel cabrera
nothing crazy crazy happens in this
at-bat i just like reading the body
language and the pitch sequencing and
higgy calls for an inside fastball and
cole says yes that's what i'll throw to
the future hall of famer it's not an
inside fastball it's kind of outside he
yanked it a little bit
but it's a pretty nice pitch probably
clips the corner maybe it dances around
the plate i think it looks pretty nice i
think cole wants it higgy throws the
ball over cole's head real good strategy
by higgy make cole forget about the bad
call say um he's going to want another
ball there's no way he's going to use
the one that just touched the grass coal
says get this ugly thing out of here
give me a new one okay gets back on the
mound tries to regain his composure is
okay what did i just throw what did i
what should i throw now what did i just
throw oh yeah it was the strike the ump
didn't call i'm in a hole now okay i'll
try something different here nice little
mustache growing on the upper lip little
peach fudge up there and he goes
curveball but he yanks it way too early
hey he says gonna need a new ball um
that one touched dirt it's too gross now
garrett's like okay i went fastball i
went curveball why don't i try to change
up all right well he fouled that right
back i think he kind of liked it i went
two off speed pitches in a row i think
yeah two yeah yeah it was two off speed
pitches now i think i should go back to
the heater higgy the catcher checks to
see if cabrera is looking at him he's
not then he throws down one says yeah
garrett says how'd you know that's
exactly what i want to throw center cut
fastball and cabrera goes i respect that
center cut fastball ready 98 right down
the middle and miguel cabrera says i
respect that i respect that he has nice
pitch man nice pitch and cole says okay
you guys are talking to me a lot i'm
trying to work here so now he's back
behind the dish and he calls for a
changeup and colt says
don't want that then he says what do you
want the curveball and he says no i
spiked the curb but i don't want that he
said you wanted another fastball he says
yeah i'm challenging this [ __ ]
bam 99 fouled back again
now it's 2-2 he calls for the slider
actually that's the slider and he yanks
it he's not happy with that because now
it's a full count and he's got to come
at him
so let's see what he goes with here full
count
change up love it and cabrera's like
come on dude i thought you were gonna
challenge me with the fastball again
throws the change up 3-2 and cabrera
look at that that's just a guy who
respects a guy
oh
you son of a [ __ ] you got me i should
have known i thought he was gonna try
and come at me with another fastball
look at the change up grip there little
circle change
bam fun little game between one of the
best pitchers in the league one of the
best hitters in the league