Pirates Notes: Gerrit Cole, Wandy Rodriguez & Charlie Morton

The future starts now for the Pittsburgh Pirates as Gerrit Cole makes his MLB debut tonight vs the defending champion San Francisco Giants. The Pirates sitting 11 games over .500 with a record of 37-26, had envisioned for months a June callup of Cole and there’s a strong feeling inside the organization that Cole could become a true difference marker for the Pirates in the stretch run by August/September and play a potential big factor in getting the Pirates to the post-season for the first time since 1992. We’ll see where things go but Pirate officials are confident that Cole has played his last minor league game.

With the Pirates officially adding Cole to the 25-man roster, the team has placed Wandy Rodriguez on the 15-day DL and Charlie Morton will start on Thursday and make his season debut.