Gerrit Cole played for the Astros in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. (Source: Imagn)

Gerrit Cole not coming out of the bullpen to save the day for the Houston Astros during Game 7 of the 2019 World Series remains a big mystery. The ace had a stellar regular season going 20-5 with a 2.50 ERA and an even better postseason with a 4-1 record and 1.72 ERA.

The World Series headed towards a decider after the Washington Nationals were able to tie up the series with a 7-2 win in Game 6. Ahead of the game, then-Astros manager AJ Hinch said the team would use Cole, who had started in Game 5, on short rest if they had a lead in the ninth inning.

Houston did have a 2-0 lead but squandered it away with a three-run seventh from the Nationals. Cole never came on, and Washington would close the game out to clinch its first title in franchise history.

Former Miami Marlins president and MLB insider David Samson gave his two cents on the topic in 2019 on CBS Sports, blasting the Astros and Gerrit Cole for not pitching.

Samson stated that Cole was never going to pitch on short rest regardless of whether they were ahead. He cited Hinch’s previous comment on making sure Cole, an impending free agent, would enter the market as healthy as possible. (Start at 2:47)

“This is about winning rings, winning the World Series. That is the only thing that Houston management should demand of its players and the only thing that the fans should demand of its players: that you want to win as much as we want you to win, that you care about winning as much as we care about you winning.

“That you will lay it all on the line so that we will spend our entertainment dollars to watch you both in person and on TV and on the internet and listen to what you have to say because you care about winning. And then it all came clear to me: Gerrit Cole doesn’t care about winning, he cares about his own money,” Samson had said.

Gerrit Cole echoes AJ Hinch’s decision of not pitching

After the game, Gerrit Cole tried to explain his version of the decision by the Astros, where he stated that skipper AJ Hinch had mentioned the few probabilities where he would be required, which didn’t come.

“If we were winning, yes,” Cole said. “We just went over the game plan. [Hinch] laid out the most advantageous times to use me. We didn’t get the [opportunity]. It’s not fun.”

Cole would go on to sign a nine-year $324 million contract with the New York Yankees in the winter. He has continued to be at the top of his game, earning the Cy Young award in 2023.

But the 34-year-old is yet to win a World Series ring. He returned to the World Series with the Yankees in 2024, but they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.