BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — Yankees supertar pitcher Gerrit Cole stepped onto a minor league mound Friday night for the first time in 13 months. The 6,100-seat crowd at TD Bank Ballpark gave him a standing ovation. A six-time All-Star taking a Double-A rehab start is a rare thing to witness, and the fans in Bridgewater knew it.
The Yankees ace threw 4 1/3 innings for Somerset against Reading. Cole touched 96 mph. He threw 44 pitches and struck out three. Those are the Yankees positives. There was also a second inning that told a different story.
The inning that showed how far Cole still has to go
The first was clean. Cole retired all three Reading batters for the Yankees. Nearly surrendered a homer to Carson DeMartini, but the ball drifted foul. Recovered with a swing-and-miss breaking ball. Easy enough.
Then things got messy. Somerset batted around in the bottom of the frame, and Cole sat in the dugout for more than 20 minutes before returning to the mound for the second inning. The long wait showed.
A walk. Then a two-out RBI double off Dylan Campbell. Then an opposite-field two-run homer off Bryson Ware. Three runs. Two batters. The Yankees ace had been beaten by a bad walk. Cole knew exactly what went wrong.
“I didn’t come out quite so sharp that inning so that was a good challenge,” the Yankees ace said. “That was really the only time the command was a little shaky. The walk was a bad walk.”
After that inning, Cole settled back down. The third took four pitches. The fourth took four pitches. A clean run to close out the outing. The crowd gave its loudest reaction of the night when he walked off after the fifth at-bat.
One moment that brought back the worst memory
In the third inning, Cole fielded a grounder to his right and was late breaking toward first base. Somerset first baseman Coby Morales stepped on the bag in time. No damage done. But the moment registered.
Cole tore his UCL covering first base in a Yankees World Series game in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. Friday’s stumble was minor. The context was not.
“I got there late,” Cole said. “That was not good.”
The last time Yankees fans saw the Yankees ace in an official game was that World Series. Over 13 months later, the instincts are still shaking off the rust.
Cole’s honest pitch-by-pitch verdict
After the outing, Cole broke down every pitch type. It was detailed, self-critical and exactly what you would expect from a pitcher who holds himself to the highest standard.
“Probably the only thing I didn’t accomplish was really moving the four-seam as well as I know I can,” Cole said. “I was pleased with the changeup. I misexecuted one. The curveball was very sharp. I didn’t make any mistakes with that pitch. The slider was good. I hung one slider. The fastball was good overall. Good pressure at the top and a lot of strikes, but I know I can move it better.”
Cole also gave an honest overall Yankees season verdict. No sugarcoating.
“I have a lot of confidence, but tonight was probably not the exact same guy,” Cole said. “Hopefully, it’s on its way.”
What the Yankees need from him and when
Friday started Cole’s 30-day rehab window. Because he is returning from Tommy John surgery, the Yankees can apply three consecutive 10-day extensions. That gives them until June 16 at the latest. The current Yankees target is late May or early June.
Aaron Boone was asked before the game about what the Yankees expect when Cole and the other returning starters are healthy. His answer framed the situation clearly.
“We’re obviously very excited to get those guys back,” Boone said. “We know how good they are. We know what they’re capable of. But it’s a process, too, in getting them back. They’re still a little ways off. The biggest thing right now is making sure they’re checking all the boxes and getting built up properly and then hopefully, when they enter back into the rotation, we get the impact we hope and expect.”
The Yankees entered Friday at 11-9. A Yankees rotation with Cole at the top looks like a different team. For the Yankees, getting there clean and healthy matters more than getting there fast.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
