Former Pirate Gerrit Cole (1-0, 0.64 ERA) through two starts with the Houston Astros, is looking everything the Pirates imagined/hoped he was going to be when they took him 1st overall in the 2011 draft.

Cole was dominant again Saturday night in his first home start as an Astro, striking out 11 for the second straight this season. Cole allowed 0 runs and 5 hits.

Cole in two starts has a K/BB ratio of 22/3.

The swing and miss stuff has been at a level never seen from Cole before as the Astros have found something the Pirates couldn’t with Cole in developing a 3rd and 4th pitch.

From the Houston Chronicle:

[It’s a small sample size, mind you, but after two starts it’d be hard to argue that he’s not the team’s best starter right now..Nineteen of his 102 pitches were swung upon and missed on Saturday, two fewer than the career-high he got against the Rangers.]

“They were pretty mirror images of each other,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He was so good and so dominant and very under control. I love the way that he thinks his way through the game and also executes the game plan. If he doesn’t like a pitch, he stepped off a couple of times. He’s just a very, very impressive, high-end starting pitcher.”