Gerrit Cole: Everything you need to know

Cole (1-1) took the loss Wednesday against the Guardians, allowing four runs on six hits and one walk in 5.1 innings. He struck out two. Following a pair of scoreless starts to begin his campaign, Cole stumbled quite a bit Wednesday. The 35-year-old right-hander served up three home runs in what also his shortest start of the year so far, but it was at least somewhat encouraging to see him reach the 80-pitch marker for the first time since coming off the injured list. Cole still has a strong 2.00 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 14:4 K:BB over 18 innings, and he's set for another crack at the Guardians in Cleveland his next time out.

Cole (1-0) scattered four hits and struck out 10 without walking a batter over 6.2 shutout innings to earn the win over the Royals on Wednesday. This was Cole's second start since his return from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander has had limits on his workload over his first two starts this year, but it's hardly noticeable with how efficient he's been so far. Cole threw 59 of 79 pitches for strikes Wednesday and has logged 12.2 scoreless frames with a 12:3 K:BB over his first two starts. Cole should push into the 80-to-90-pitch range for his next outing, which is tentatively projected to come at home versus the Guardians next week.

Cole did not factor into the decision in Friday's 4-2 loss to the Rays, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out two over six scoreless innings. In his first major-league start in 569 days, Cole needed just 72 pitches to spin six scoreless frames. He generated only five whiffs but filled the zone with 50 strikes and limited the Rays to three hard-hit balls while averaging 96.1 mph on both his four-seamer and sinker. It was clearly an encouraging showing for the 35-year-old, who lines up for a road matchup against the Royals next week.