Tuesday night was an exciting one for the New York Yankees. Gerrit Cole took a huge step towards his return. Starting for Double-A Somerset, Cole threw 45 pitches over 3 1/3 innings, surrendering zero runs over no walks and two hits. Cole had been sidelined since March 11 with elbow inflammation and edema, so this outing marks major progress for the Yankees ace.
“I thought it was really fun overall,” Cole said regarding coming back to the mound. “It was a nice environment. It felt really great to get back out there and get back in the flow of things.”
Cole said that he felt good and that he still had something left in the tank when he exited. After the Yankees’ 5-1 win over Minnesota, manager Aaron Boone said that he got to see Cole pitch before the game started, and that “he looked really sharp.”
Gerrit Cole in his first rehab start:
3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K pic.twitter.com/acz8iUbJmg
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 4, 2024
The Next Steps for Gerrit Cole’s Rehab Assignment
Cole is slated to start again for Somerset on Sunday. When asked about a timetable/strategy in terms of Cole’s return to the big league mound, Boone had the following to say:
“It just depends. Do we want to bring him in a situation where he’s at, whatever, 60, 65, 70 pitches? Do we want him to have one more? We’ll have a better feel for that, certainly, Gerrit will have a better feel for that as he now goes and starts pitching in games. Do we want one more at a certain level or do we want to build you here? We haven’t decided that yet. And we’ll continue to work towards that.”
This is a smart way to go about rehabilitating the 2023 American League Cy Young winner. The Yankees currently own the best record in the American League, thanks in big part to the excellence of their pitching staff. So, why rush Cole’s return and aggravate his elbow, potentially leading to more time on the sidelines? The Yanks are fine without Cole, and they’ll be that much better when he comes back fully healthy.
Gerrit Cole says tonight “was really fun” pic.twitter.com/DUbBE2CAre
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 5, 2024
As of right now, it’s looking like a late-June return for Cole. Boone and Co. have no reason to rush him, so it seems that he has at least a few more starts in the minors before he’ll be ready to come back to the Majors.
Rotation Woes No More
Just a few weeks ago, there was major speculation surrounding the Yankees rotation and the plan for when Cole returned. Amidst these questions, Boone did not seem worried in the slightest. He said repeatedly that there currently was no plan, and that a major decision was a while away.
“It’s whatever, three, four, five, six weeks away,” Boone said. “If at that point, we’re in this position, then that’s a good thing. We’ll do what we have to do, what we think is best for the team and for everyone involved.”
He also added that the problem would likely solve itself, being that injuries are like baseball. And to give credit where it’s due, he was proven right after Clarke Schmidt went down with a right lat strain on May 31st. It looks like Schmidt will be out for at least a few months, so that clears a perfect path for Cole to take his spot in the rotation. The question of what will happen when Schmidt returns is, as Boone would say, “a ways off”.
There’s No Reason for Concern
Even without Cole and now Clarke Schmidt, the Yankees have not faltered. Since May 12, Yankees starters have posted a 1-2 record with a 1.00 ERA. They’ve given up 11 earned runs in 99 innings, doing it all without Cole throwing a single pitch so far this season. They’re the only team in the majors this season to have five pitchers who made at least 10 starts with a 3.30 ERA or lower. Only one other team has at least three pitchers, the Philadelphia Phillies, who have four.
Main Photo: © John Jones-USA TODAY Sports
