Rafael Devers OWNS Gerrit Cole And He's Finally Given Up

Garrett Cole is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, someone you can argue has been the best throughout the entirety of his career. There's never been a moment where Garrett Cole wasn't looked at as a great pitcher. He was a stud on the mound in high school before getting drafted by the Yankees in the first round, declined their offer to go to UCLA where he continued to dominate, going on to get drafted in the first round again three years later, this time with the first overall pick going to the Pirates. And whether he's been a Pirate, an Astro, or a New York Yankee, Cole's looked at as one of the game's premier guys, he's that good, and deserves all the respect that comes his way. But there's one man, one hitter, who just has Cole's number. One man, one hitter, who Cole now has a long history with that he can do nothing else but tip his cap and acknowledge as his legal owner. And that man is Rafael Devers. Really quick, if you breathe, and I mean breathe anything, even if it's not air, I don't discriminate against fish, like the video and subscribe if you haven't yet or just wait to see if you enjoy the video and then make a decision, that works too. Now the rivalry between these two guys didn't start off as much of one more so because there really wasn't too much to remember, and if anything Cole had taken good care of Devers. The first time he ever faced Rafael Devers was a game in Houston, and Cole struck him out twice while getting him to line out in his third at-bat. The two went on to face a couple more times in the postseason that year where Devers recorded his first knock off of Cole, driving home a run in Game 2 of the ALCS before Devers later hit a chopper right at Cole to flip on a first for the out. And the last time Cole faced Devers as an Astro would be May of 2019 where he'd get him to line out and strike out. So at this point in time, nothing really to note much of with these matchups, and that continued to be the case in Cole's first year as a Yankee. In the shortened 2020 season, only facing Devers one time that year, not striking him out at all but getting him to just hit an outs. So there's no trouble for Cole against Devers nor is there any sort of battle between the two of them. It's just like, okay, whatever. But in 2021, everything changed. Once the fans were allowed back to watch baseball in person, Devers turned on his demon mode, and things have never been the same again for Gary Cole. In their first matchup in front of fans with Cole as a Yankee, Cole believed he could just blow a 100 mile an hour fastball past Devers for strike three, and hey, for most hitters, he probably can do that. But not Devers, as he absolutely annihilated it for a bomb. Later in that same game, Devers would drop a base hit in the center field, and after this, for several at-bats, Cole actually even doubted the matchup. Like Devers wasn't known to own Cole at this point. He has that one home run and absolute blast, and the single in the same game. But Devers, as good as he is, isn't immune to striking out, and Cole is literally a power strikeout pitcher. So to see him get the best of Devers and strike him out four straight at-bats wasn't that surprising. But in the fifth one, Devers was back, hitting an absolute rocket off of Cole to left center for a big two run homer, breaking a tie and giving Boston the lead. And I think this is when Devers officially started seeing Cole differently than any other hitter does. This is when he really figured him out. Not that it was necessarily easy, but it's like he started realizing how to make adjustments a lot better and quicker. Because in the next game he faced Cole, he hit a ball right out of fielder for an out, went chasing and a high fastball that he couldn't hit. But in the third at-bat of the night, with a couple guys on, he'd get a little bit out in front of a changeup, but smash it out for a home run. So that's now three he's got off Cole, and the next time they faced off, opening day of 2022 at Yankee Stadium, and Devers would take the second pitch he saw, a 99 mile an hour fastball, up and out for a two run bomb. Three months later, not one, but two home runs off of Cole in the same damn game. And at this point it's like, yeah, yeah, this dude owns Cole. He's got him figured out. But credit to Cole because he did kind of even things out again. Now obviously one strikeout doesn't equal one home run. Home runs are harder to come by, so it takes a few more of those by Cole to match every home run hit by Devers. But Cole ended up getting Devers out in the next eight at-bats the two had against each other, with six of those outs coming on strikeouts. So hey, maybe Cole's got Devers figured out now. Maybe he's got a way to stop the home run problem. But the second at-bat the two faced off in 2023, Devers didn't go deep, but he did get out in front of another changeup and landed in for a ground rule double. Well could be worse. Could have been another home ru- oh, well, the literal first pitch of the third at-bat. Another changeup would land in the bullpen again, but this time without hitting the warning track first. He's back. Garrett Cole's worst nightmare is officially back. Going on to give up three smoked baseballs to Devers the next time he saw him, two that went for singles. I'd like to imagine Cole just prayed to the heavens he wouldn't hit a homer on this, a 2-0 fastball. He's gotta get it over the plate, obviously, unless he wants to walk him. So he just fired it in, hoping for the best, and I guess a bullet for just a single was the best case scenario for Cole. And then Devers would just miss a homer the third at-bat, hitting a shot out to the warning track and left center. So at this point, yeah, Devers full-on has the advantage here. There's really not too much Cole can do other than hope Devers swings too much junk out of the zone because this year, the latest edition of the rivalry between these two, Cole has been a lot more outspoken about how much Devers owns him, making it so if anything it's really not much of a rivalry. And I feel like a couple years ago, or even last year, Cole may have been a little bitter about the whole thing and how much he's owned by Devers, but now I think he's just fully on board with the reality and knows that only he can change it. So there's no point in complaining. And the first matchup between the two in 2024, he'd get Devers down swinging on three pitches, only for Devers to come back and get his 1,000th career hit, fittingly, off of Cole while driving in a run in the process. And he damn well sure wasn't done, as Cole to this day, as you're watching this very video, has yet to get Devers out, and that will remain the case until at least 2025. Devers went on to smoke yet another home run against Cole for an encore to his milestone day. Throwing the bat, it looks to be a sign of disrespect to Cole, but I don't think he meant it as that. Earlier in this game, Alex Verdugo, who was traded to the Yankees from the Red Sox, had a really slow jog around the bases after hitting a home run, so I think this was Devers' way of saying here we go and waking up his own dugout. But Cole was visibly upset, like come on man. But credit to Cole, because he basically admitted this was just an in-the-moment moment of anger, saying the right thing after the game, that as a pitcher, if you don't want him to watch a home run in shot, then you probably shouldn't give up a home run. I mean, you gotta respect that answer. In the moment, he was probably like, come on, but realized, again, only he has the power to end the narrative between these two. And after this game, Yankees fans started claiming that Aaron Boone should have Cole just walk Devers at this point, just put up four fingers and put the man on first base I understand Devers hits a homer against Cole like every other at bat, but it's Garrett freaking Cole. He's getting paid one of the richest contracts of all time, period. For any player, let alone pitcher, a potential future hall of famer, he's the last person who should be walking someone just because he has a hard time getting them out. And I really didn't think it would ever happen. I really didn't think Cole and the Yankees would actually do this, but they freaking did it. And they did it in an even wilder fashion. A few days ago before this series, the Yankees had a Hispanic Heritage Night at the ballpark and during a press conference, Cole was asked by the media what Latin hitter has given him the most trouble in his career. And without hesitation, before the person asking could even finish his question, just watch for yourself. Most gave you or gives you trouble getting Rafael Devers. And that leads us to the final matchup between the two in 2024. Back at Yankee Stadium, Cole would miss and hit Devers with a cutter in the first at bat. But it's the second one where something incredible happened and it's because the at bat didn't even take place. No pitches were thrown. With one out in the third inning and nobody on base, Garrett Cole and the Yankees decided to do just what the fans were saying he should do at this point. Just put up four fingers and send him over to first base. Again, nobody was on base. So what this was, was two things. The ultimate sign of respect from Cole to Devers. And the other thing being Cole just giving up and officially accepting Devers as his legal owner. Like, yeah, you own me. I suck against you and no ego will be involved here. You can head on over to first base. While Devers was just like, whoa, oh my god, okay, wow, alright. They'd face one last time, a time that Cole had no other choice than to pitch to him because there were guys on base. In fact, it was the complete opposite situation from the last at bat. Rather than every base being empty to just send Devers over to first, the bases were loaded and after a first pitch fastball outside, Devers would take a low and away curveball and send it into right field for two runs. I mean, there's nothing else to say at this point. Nothing. And it really is incredible how much this has just turned into a complete one-sided matchup. But credit to Garrett Cole, he's owning it. He's owning the reality of what's going on. Let me know your thoughts and thank you for watching.