Yankees’ Gerrit Cole Strikes Out Five Over 3.1 Innings in First Rehab Start
For the first time in over three months, New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole returned to game action Tuesday night while beginning a rehab assignment at Double-A Somerset.
Cole, who made just one start during spring training before being shut down due to a right elbow injury, tossed 3.1 scoreless innings against the Hartford Yard Goats, the Colorado Rockies’ Double-A affiliate.
The 33-year-old righty faced 11 batters, striking out five while allowing just a pair of hits on the evening. He departed after throwing 45 pitches, landing 34 for strikes (75.6%).
The reigning American League Cy Young winner said his fastball topped out at 97 m.p.h. and felt confident with how he attacked the strike zone in his first start since March 1st.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters Tuesday that Cole will likely require multiple rehab outings before rejoining the big-league rotation, which, if all goes well, could happen as early as this month.
“I’m not sure how many more we’ll need, but definitely closer rather than farther away,” Cole told reporters following his outing in Bridgewater, New Jersey. “It should be right around the corner here.”
Cole threw five bullpen sessions last month prior to being cleared to participate in simulated games. Following a few successful sessions at Yankee Stadium, his rehab shifted to the organization’s complex in Tampa, FL where he completed a 43-pitch outing last Thursday.
“Really great to get back out there, get back in the flow of things, get some adrenaline,” Cole said. “Threw all my pitches for strikes. Left a couple soft breaking balls over the plate, one was a base hit, the other one I got away with. And I was able to get the ball to both sides of the plate and get the top and the bottom of the strike zone.”
The Yankees have managed just fine without Cole thus far, thanks to the emergence of Luis Gil, whose 1.82 ERA ranks second in the majors behind only Philadelphia’s Ranger Suárez (1.70) amongst qualified starters. He also owns the fifth-highest strikeout rate (31.5%).
Gil’s early-season dominance has further improved an already talented rotation, which owns the lowest OPP AVG (.207) and the second-lowest starter’s ERA (2.73) across the sport, trailing only the Phillies (2.69).
Even without Cole, New York leads the AL East at 43-19, sharing the best record in baseball with Philadelphia, who also lead their respective division. Both clubs are amongst the favourites to meet in the World Series this fall.
The six-time All-Star hopes to return long before then, looking to build off his spectacular 2023 performance, where he posted a 2.63 ERA and 3.16 FIP with 222 strikeouts over 33 starts, eclipsing 200 innings for the sixth time in his career. He was also worth 5.2 fWAR, tied for his second-highest rating.
Cole received all 30 first-place votes to become a unanimous AL Cy Young Award winner last November, and was named the best pitcher in any league for the first time in his 11th big-league season.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
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