NEW YORK -- Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, sidelined since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, will make his season debut Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
New York had been weighing whether to have Cole make a seventh and final rehab start as planned or end the rehab assignment slightly early to start Friday. The club, in concert with the training staff and Cole, decided he was ready after a strong outing Saturday checked the remaining boxes for activation.
"It's just a blessing to play the game and you get a better sense of that once you're removed from it," Cole said. "Just getting back into that environment, and not taking that for granted, it's exciting for sure."
Cole, New York's ace, was coming off winning the 2023 American League Cy Young Award when elbow troubles surfaced during spring training in 2024. He was diagnosed with elbow inflammation and missed nearly the first three months of the regular season. He returned to log a 3.41 ERA over 17 starts during the regular season before another five outings in the playoffs.
He made his final start in the Yankees' final game of the season -- Game 5 of the 2024 World Series -- and hasn't pitched for the Yankees since the infamous season-ending defeat. The Yankees won 94 games without him last season, losing a tiebreaker with the Blue Jays to fall short of winning the AL East title before losing in four games to the Jays in the AL Division Series.
After narrowly avoiding Tommy John surgery in March 2024, Cole wasn't as lucky a year later. He underwent the procedure on March 11. He'll take the mound Friday at Yankee Stadium 14 months and 11 days after the surgery date.
"He has done everything he needs [to do] to be ready to compete now at this level," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Boone on Tuesday recalled leaving Citi Field after Sunday's walk-off loss to the Mets believing Cole would make one more rehab start before returning. Elmer RodrÃguez, the Yankees' starter Sunday, was in line to start Friday before Cole took his spot in the rotation. But the door for Cole opened Monday when the team optioned RodrÃguez to Triple-A and recalled reliever Yovanny Cruz, leaving a hole in the rotation for Friday.
Boone maintained the decision was not in reaction to Max Fried, the team's ace last season, landing on the injured list last week because of a left bone bruise that will sideline him indefinitely. Cole will join a rotation with the fourth-best ERA in the majors entering Tuesday led by Cam Schlittler, who made his major league debut during Cole's absence and holds the best ERA in baseball in his first full major league season.
"He hasn't been in that flow of competition for 17 months," Boone said. "That being said, it is Gerrit Cole and what we've been watching for the last few months, and his build-up and his sides and his rehabs, he looks great.
"My expectation is that he's going to be really good. Will there be some bumps along the way or navigating getting back into that full level of competition at this level, sure, but that's part of it too. But at the end of the day, I expect him to come in and pitch well for us."
Cole endured the painstaking rehab process without hitting any snags, slowly but steadily hitting checkpoints behind the scenes. The final phase -- pitching in games -- began at the end of spring training when Cole tossed 2â…” innings in two appearances. He started his rehab assignment three weeks later, on April 17, when he gave up three runs across 4â…“ innings.
He finished his rehab stint with a 5.28 ERA in six starts. But the results, especially early, were irrelevant. Cole was not pitching to necessarily retire batters. He was pitching to test himself, work on his arsenal, and build stamina. Multiple variables were on his mind. They ranged from pitch count, pitch quality, and sequencing to stamina, defending his position, and recovery between starts. "Anything that the game demands," Cole said.
Cole's workload increased with each outing from 44 pitches in the first start to 52 to 57 to 69 to 77 to 84 on Saturday. Boone said Cole flipped the competitive switch in the past two appearances. He recorded his best start Saturday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when he gave up one run and six hits with six strikeouts across 5½ innings while his fastball touched 99.6 mph.
Cole said producing that level of velocity was "a plus" and "a factor." But command, not velocity, is the primary concern for pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery and it often requires time to rectify. He said he believes his stuff overall resembles his pre-surgery form.
"So far, so good," Cole said. "I still think there's a lot of work to do. But I always feel like that. We'll get a good read on where it's at with major league hitters, a major league environment, and then adjust from there."
Cole's return will not come with a soft landing. The Rays stand in first place in the AL East, three games ahead of New York entering Tuesday, with the best record in the American League. They boast a dynamic offense that thrives on pressuring opponents and ranks ninth in the majors in runs scored. Friday will be the first meeting between the two clubs this season.
"I'm not going to speculate on what could or what wouldn't happen," Cole said. "But I feel like I've built enough domain and I'm in a good frame of mind. I'm just prepared as possible to do the best I can, whatever challenges come our way on Friday."
