Gerrit Alan Cole (born September 8, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he pitched for the UCLA Bruins. Cole made his MLB debut in 2013 for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Cole played for the baseball team at Orange Lutheran High School, and was selected by the New York Yankees in the first round of the 2008 MLB Draft. Cole opted not to sign and instead attended UCLA. After his college baseball career, the Pirates made Cole the first overall selection in the 2011 MLB draft. Cole was named the National League (NL) Rookie of the Month in September 2013, and the NL Pitcher of the Month for April 2015.
Cole attended Orange Lutheran High School. In his sophomore year, Cole pitched for the school's junior varsity baseball team, allowing no runs in 45 innings pitched. He gained national attention while pitching for the varsity team in his junior year, as his fastball reached 94 miles per hour (151 km/h). He reached 96 miles per hour (154 km/h) in a showcase for the best prep school talents, and close to 50 scouts attended the first game of his senior season. In his senior year, Cole pitched to an 8–2 win–loss record and a 0.47 earned run average (ERA), while also recording 121 strikeouts in 75 innings.