Cole Sands

Bats R Throws R6'3" 215 lbBorn 1997 Tallahassee, USADebut 2022Team MINDraft 2015 R22 #649 Houston Astros, North Florida Christian (FL) HSContract 1 y/$1.1M (26) 2026: $1,100,000

Projections

Season	BF	K%	BB%	HR%	1B%	XBH%	PITCH+
2026	241	23.3	6.7	2.69	21.3	6.24	107.9
2027							106.6
2028							104.6

Projected rates are per plate appearance or batter faced; counting stats scale with projected playing time. Statcast measurements inform these projections as inputs and are reported as measurements, not projected.

Most similar through age 27

His ten closest age-27 comparables averaged 105 PITCH+ the next season; 8 of 10 played. Averages cover only the players who got a next season, which is why the played count matters.

#	Player	Through	PITCH+ then	Next season	Next PA / BF
1	Brandon League	2010	104.2	115.6	250
2	Tony Peña	2009	105.6	97.4	444
3	Jonathan Holder	2020	105.4	did not play
4	Kyle Ryan	2019	102.6	81.8	66
5	Bryan Shaw	2015	108.3	108.5	275
6	Brad Boxberger	2015	105.2	93.1	114
7	Manny Delcarmen	2009	107.9	100.7	234
8	Cam Bedrosian	2019	102.9	126.8	58
9	Joe Smith	2011	108.5	114.2	278
10	Tyler Thornburg	2016	110.0	did not play

Pitching

Year	Team	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	BF	HR	BB	SO	PITCH+
2027 proj									241				106.6
2026*									56				78.8	101.4	80.3
2025	MIN	4	6	4.50	69	3	3	72.0	299	7	19	64	106.2	99.5	105.7
2024	MIN	9	1	3.28	62	0	4	71.3	292	6	12	85	118.5	100.2	118.6
2023	MIN	0	0	3.74	15	0	0	21.7	98	4	13	21	95.3	98.9	94.2
2022	MIN	0	3	5.87	11	3	1	30.7	145	4	13	28	84.5	99.6	84.1
Career		13	10	4.19	157	6	8	195.7	834	21	57	198	105.4		105.1

Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	Inn	PO	A	E	Fld%	Runs saved
2025	MIN	P	69	72	6	7	1	0.929	-0.2
2024	MIN	P	62	71	5	4	1	0.900	+0.1
2023	MIN	P	15	22	2	1	0	1.000	-0.1
2022	MIN	P	11	31	1	3	1	0.800	-0.1

Runs saved covers the Statcast era; for catchers it includes framing.

Minor leagues

Year	Level	Team	Side	PA / BF	Line	AVG / ERA
2026	AAA	St. Paul Saints	Pit	26	7.0 IP, 27% K	0.00
2023	AAA	St. Paul Saints	Pit	119	30.2 IP, 34% K	1.49
2022	AAA	St. Paul Saints	Pit	284	61.2 IP, 25% K	5.59
2021	AA	Wichita Wind Surge	Pit	334	80.1 IP, 29% K	2.47
2019	A+	Fort Myers Miracle	Pit	192	52.0 IP, 28% K	2.25
2019	A	Cedar Rapids Kernels	Pit	174	41.1 IP, 28% K	3.07

Splits

Year	vs LHP	vs RHP	Home	Away
2026	0.445	0.384	0.500	0.257
2025	0.320	0.294	0.318	0.294
2024	0.325	0.239	0.252	0.304
2023	0.391	0.306	0.398	0.309
2022	0.329	0.417	0.377	0.378

wOBA by split, from pitch level data, 2015 on. For pitchers the split is the batter side faced.