They are going by results, and even with all his hype and stuff he results haven't been fantastic.

Cole was worth 8.9 WAR three season prior
Wheeler has been worth 7.6 WAR both in using baseball reference...

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The Pirates liked to emphasize two-seam fastballs down in the zone, the better to generate ground balls. The Astros encourage their pitchers -- especially those with good velocity -- to throw more four-seam fastballs up in the zone, the better to generate strikeouts. Ditching his sinker wasn't the only change Cole made. He also started throwing his slider and curveball more often -- which also helped produce more strikeouts. Here's his pitch selection percentages with the Pirates compared with those with the Astros:

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Pirates, 2016-2017
4-seam fastball: 48.7%
2-seam fastball: 13.7%
Changeup: 8.6%
Curveball: 11.3%
Slider: 17.6%

Astros, 2018-2019
4-seam fastball: 50.9%
2-seam fastball: 4.2%
Changeup: 6.0%
Curveball: 17.3%
Slider: 21.6%

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Wheeler is not a perfect match for Cole. Most notably, he missed all of 2015 and 2016 with injuries, including Tommy John surgery. He went 23-15 with a 3.65 ERA over the past two seasons with the Mets with 374 strikeouts in 377? innings, numbers that line up with Cole's final two seasons in Pittsburgh

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Four-seamer: 918 pitches, .241/.309/.341, 29.4% strikeout rate
Two-seamer: 946 pitches: .297/.331/.484, 17.2% strikeout rate

Even though Wheeler's four-seam fastball was the more effective pitch, he threw the two-seamer more often. A team like the Astros might look at those numbers and advise Wheeler to throw his four-seam fastball more often and perhaps unlock some of that upside.

This post was edited on 11/22/19 at 10:52 am