Cole Bryson Tucker...engaged to Vanessa...Is a 2014 graduate of Mountain Pointe (Ariz.) High School, where he hit .404 with eight doubles, four triples, five home runs and 30 RBI in 27 games as a senior...Was named a West All-Region first-team and Perfect Game second-team All-American in 2014...led the 18U USA National team to a 2013 World Cup...Was committed to play baseball at the University of Arizona before signing with the Pirates...Was rated as the second-best high school player in Arizona by Baseball America prior to the 2014 draft...Played on the same Diamondbacks elite team as Cody Bellinger growing up in Arizona...also played against each other in high school...His younger brother, Carson, was selected by Cleveland in the first round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft (23rd pick overall)
2022
Appeared in 18 games with the Pirates, slashing .175/.175/.222 with one double, one triple, two RBI and one stolen base...Overall, appeared in 12 games in right field, six at second base and three games at shortstop...Did not record a walk during his Major League appearances (63 PA)...Designated for assignment by Pittsburgh on May 30...After being acquired off waivers by Arizona on June 5, slashed .237/.297/.325 in 35 games for Triple-A Reno...Hit .258 (8-for-31) with two doubles, one home run and four RBI in 11 games in September with Reno.
2021
Was assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the minor league season on 5/4...Was recalled on 5/21 and went 2-for-15 with a double and an RBI in eight games (three starts at shortstop) with the Pirates thru 6/5...Was optioned back to Indianapolis on 6/6...Went 3-for-5 with two home runs on 6/12 at Nashville...Missed six games between 6/15-20 due to an illness...Hit .214 (12-for-56) with three doubles, two homers and seven RBI in 16 Triple-A games from 6/9 thru 7/4...Was recalled a second time on 7/6; singled as a pinch hitter on 7/6 vs. Atlanta...Played the final inning at first base on 7/7 vs. Atlanta - his first professional appearance at the position...Was optioned to Indianapolis on 7/16...Injured his thumb while playing right field on 7/21...Returned to the lineup on 7/28...Homered twice on 8/7 at Iowa...Made 47 starts at shortstop, seven in right field, three in left field and two at second base while playing with Indianapolis... Was recalled a third and final time on 8/28...Served as the leadoff hitter for the first time on 9/1 at Chicago (AL) and went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored...Hit .240 (23- for-96) with three doubles, two triples, two homers and 11 RBI in 30 games during his final stint with the Pirates; 308 (16- for-52) in last 16 games...Tied career-high (second time) with three hits on 9/18 at Miami...Hit the first pitch of the game on 9/26 at Philadelphia for a home run; was his second career leadoff homer and the very first pitch thrown by Has Crouse, who was making his Major League debut with the Phillies... Connected off Cincinnati’s Michael Lorenzen for first career grand slam on 10/1 at PNC Park; also tripled and had a career-high four RBI in the game...Made 14 starts at shortstop, eight at second base, five in right field and one in center field (9/4 at Wrigley Field) while playing with the Pirates.
2020
Made the Major League Opening Day roster for the first time in his career...Made his first professional start/appearance in the outfield in the second game on 7/25 at St. Louis; started in right field and went hitless in three at-bats...Had two hits on 7/28 vs. Milwaukee...Swiped first big league base on 7/31 at Chicago (NL)...Made his first career start in center field on 8/2 at Chicago (NL)...Served as the leadoff batter for the first time on 8/3 at Minnesota and homered off Lewis Thorpe on the first pitch of the game (his only homer of the season)...Went 5-for-21 (.238) with two walks, four RBI and three runs scored in his five games as the leadoff batter...Had career-high three hits on 8/21 vs. Milwaukee...Made his first career appearance at second base on 9/13 at Kansas City; played the final three innings there...Had one hit in his last 14 at-bats after hitting safely in six of his seven games from 8/31 thru 9/6...Was placed on the 7-day concussion I.L. on 9/17 and missed remainder of season...Made 20 appearances (19 starts) in center field and 16 appearances (nine starts) in right field...Did not commit an error among his 54 total chances in the outfield.
2019
Entered season ranked by Baseball America as Pittsburgh's sixth-best prospect; was also tabbed as the "Best Athlete" and "Fastest Baserunner" in the Pirates system by the same publication... Began season with Triple-A Indianapolis, where he hit .333 (19-for-57) with three homers, seven RBI and five stolen bases in his first 13 games thru 4/19...Was tied for second among the International League leaders in hits and stolen bases when he was recalled by the Pirates on 4/20...Made his Major League debut as the leadoff batter and starter at shortstop on 4/20 vs. San Francisco; went 1-for-3 with a home run off Derek Holland...Became the first Pirate to homer in his debut since Starling Marte on 7/26/12...Collected an extra-base hit in each of his first three Major League games (a homer and two doubles); since 1913, only one other Pittsburgh player recorded at least one extra-base hit in each of his first three career games (shortstop Jack Wilson doubled in his first three big league games in 2001)...Started 14 straight games at shortstop thru 5/5 after being recalled...Hit a two-run homer in front of family and friends at Chase Field in Arizona on 5/14...Hit .152 (10-for-66) with five RBI in 24 games during the month of May...Was optioned back to Indianapolis on 6/8...Homered twice on 6/20 vs. Buffalo...Had a career-high four hits on 6/25 vs. Louisville...Made first career appearance at second base on 7/18...Was recalled on 8/16; walked with the bases loaded as a pinch hitter that night vs. Chicago to force in the tying run in the bottom of the ninth...Was optioned back to Indy on 8/18...Was recalled on 9/3...Hit .265 (9-for-34) with two doubles, three triples and three RBI in September...Produced a .327 batting average (16-for-49), six doubles, three triples and seven RBI over his last 24 Major League games, dating back to 5/29...Made 45 appearances (36 starts) at shortstop while playing with the Pirates...Hit .500 (11-for-22) while coming off the bench; went 5-for-11 with a double, two triples, two RBI, two walks and a .571 OBP as a pinch hitter.
2018
Entered season ranked by Baseball America as Pittsburgh's sixth-best prospect and as the "Fastest Baserunner" in the Pirates minor league system...Spent entire season as the everyday shortstop with Double-A Altoona...Led Eastern League in games played and stolen bases and tied for the league lead in triples...Also ranked second in the league in at bats, fourth in runs scored and fifth in hits...Led all Eastern League shortstops with a .973 fielding percentage, 131 games played, 511 total chances, 182 putouts and 315 assists...Led all Pittsburgh minor league players in games played while tying for the organizational lead in stolen bases along with Alfredo Reyes; his 35 stolen bases were the fourth-highest in a single season in Altoona club history...Hit .321 thru his first 15 games from 4/5-23 before going 2-for-40 between 4/25 and 5/7...Stole first two bases of the season on 5/20 vs. Portland while going 3-for-4 at the plate...Hit .349 (15-for-43) with two doubles, a triple and seven RBI over a 10-game stretch from 5/20-30... Connected for his first home run on 6/13 at Binghamton (all five of his homers were solo shots)...Hit second home run on 7/4, one day after his 22nd birthday, while also reaching base safely four times...Led the Eastern League and Pirates organization with 25 runs scored during the month of July...Became the first and only Curve player to reach 40 multi-hit games in a season with a 2-for-4 performance on 8/30...Started 85 consecutive games at shortstop from 6/1 to 8/30...Hit .390 (16-for-41) over the last 11 games of the regular season...Batted .311 (32-for-103) vs. lefties and .246 (102-for-414) off righties...Started Game Two of the Eastern League Division Series with a leadoff home run on 9/6 at Akron...Hit a game-tying grand slam during a five-run fifth inning on 9/7 vs. Akron to help the Curve erase a 5-0 deficit in Game Three of the Division Series...Ended the season ranked by MLB.com as Pittsburgh's fifth-best prospect... Was the recipient of the Altoona Curve Fan Appreciation Award...Played for the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League and hit .370 (30-for-81) with five doubles, one triple, 11 RBI and an .899 OPS in 20 games...Ranked third among the league leaders in batting and fourth in OBP (.442)...Was named to the Arizona Fall League Fall Stars Game and to the league's Top Prospects team; was also the recipient of the Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award.
2017
Entered season ranked by Baseball America as Pittsburgh's eighth-best prospect...Hit a combined .275 (122- for-444) with 19 doubles, 11 triples, six home runs, 50 RBI and 47 stolen bases between Single-A Bradenton and Double-A Altoona...Ranked first among all Pirates minor leaguers in triples and stolen bases, third in runs scored and sixth in hits...Was named to the Florida State League's mid- and post-season AllStar teams...Ranked first in the Florida State League in stolen bases and seventh in all of minor league baseball...His 47 stolen bases were the most by a Pirates farmhand since Pedro Powell had 67 in 2007...Reached base safely in 28 straight games from 4/19 to 5/22; the second-longest streak in the Florida State League for the season...Was named the Florida State League's hitter-of-the-week for the week of 5/8-14...Recorded a team record-tying seven RBI on 5/12; the only other player in Bradenton history to collect seven RBI in a game was Jeremy Farrell in 2010 in the Marauders' first game in team history...Hit .358 (19-for-53) in 13 games during the month of July with the Marauders...Was promoted to Altoona on 7/20 and went 0-for-5 with two errors in his Double-A debut that night at Bowie...Hit safely in six straight games from 7/24-30...Hit his first Double-A home run on 8/21 at Hartford; a two-run, go-ahead shot as part of a three-hit game...Walked four times on 8/28, the most by a Curve player in 2017 and tied for the most in a game in club history...Ended the regular season with a 16-game on-base streak...Hit .348 (23-for-66) with four doubles, two triples, two homers, 12 RBI and 13 walks over final 17 regular season games from 8/17 to 9/4...Went 3-for-5 with two doubles in Game One of the Western Division Series on 9/7 at Bowie...Fractured his left hand in Game Two of the Division Series on 9/8...Finished the season ranked as Pittsburgh's fifth-best prospect by MLB.com.
2016
Began season with Single-A West Virginia…Made season debut in May after recovering from shoulder surgery…Appeared in 15 games for the Power before being promoted to Bradenton on 5/28 after Kevin Newman was placed on the D.L. with a fractured orbital…Appeared in 65 games for the Marauders…Went 2-for-3 with a walk in his first game with Bradenton on 5/29.
2015
Spent entire season with Single-A West Virginia Power...Made all 73 of his appearances at shortstop...Went 4-for-5 with a double and a walk on 7/1 vs. Kannapolis… Swiped a career-high three bases against Hickory on 5/18… Hit .325 and produced a .798 OPS in 20 games in July… Sat out all of August with a shoulder injury that required surgery for a torn labrum on 8/25...Ranked fifth among all Pittsburgh minor leaguers in stolen bases.
2014
Spent first professional season in the Gulf Coast League after being selected by the Pirates in the first round of the June Draft...Made his professional debut on 6/23 vs. GCL Blue Jays and went 0-for-3 with two walks…Hit his first career home run on 8/1 against the GCL Yankees…Ranked second in the league in runs scored and recorded a leagueleading eight sacrifice hits.
