NEW YORK — A Yankees pitching legend has seen enough baseball to recognize something real when it shows up on the mound.
He spent 14 seasons in pinstripes, captured the 1978 Cy Young Award and remained close enough to the organization that very little around the Bronx slips past him. Yet even with all that history behind him, Gerrit Cole’s return has pulled him back in a different way.
Cole has looked nothing like a pitcher easing his way back from Tommy John surgery. Through two starts since rejoining the Yankees, the ace has thrown 12.2 scoreless innings, struck out 12, walked just three, posted a 0.71 WHIP and limited opponents to a .143 batting average. His fastball has averaged 96.3 mph, and his strike-zone rate sits at 72%, a sign that the power has returned with precision attached.
That combination has made the comeback difficult to ignore. Cole has not simply given the Yankees innings. He has looked like a pitcher reclaiming command of games, hitters and expectations all at once.
The former Yankees great watched every pitch, and each inning brought back something familiar — the tempo, the edge, the presence and the refusal to give hitters breathing room. For Ron Guidry, Cole’s return has started to feel less like a comeback story and more like a reminder of his own ace blueprint.
‘He reminds me so much of myself,’ Guidry says
The parallels between Guidry and Cole, both Yankees aces in their time, are not obvious at first glance. Guidry was a left-handed flamethrower who went 25-3 in 1978, one of the most dominant single seasons any pitcher has ever put together. Cole is a right-hander who came to the Yankees on a nine-year, $324 million contract. Their eras and contracts could not be more different.
But when Guidry watches Cole work, he sees the mechanics, the composure, and the competitive intelligence that defined his own career. Speaking to NJ.com on Thursday, Guidry did not hold back.
“It’s fun to watch because he reminds me so much of myself,” Guidry said. “He’s deliberate and slow, just like I was, and then all of a sudden he comes right at you.”
That description captures something specific about the Yankees ace’s delivery. He adopted a traditional over-the-head windup this spring, similar to what Guidry himself used throughout his career. The deliberate half-step back from the rubber, the weight gathering over the back leg, the controlled drive toward the plate. Observers watching both pitchers on video have noted how closely the mechanics mirror each other.
But Guidry did not just compare deliveries. He assessed Cole as a competitor, and in that department, the former Yankees ace sees no drop in class.
“When I saw Gerrit in spring training, he was so meticulous, I had a feeling (the recovery) was going to be a lot easier than most people thought,” Guidry said. “My only concern was his stamina and his endurance. Like, what’s it going to take for him to maintain that level?
“But as far as everything else, Gerrit Cole is as good as anyone that’s on the mound today. That hasn’t changed.”
The slow, deliberate style that fools hitters
Guidry was asked a pointed question during the conversation. If Cole’s delivery is so smooth and measured, doesn’t that make it easier for hitters to time him? Wouldn’t a calm, deliberate release tip off a batter to what is coming?
Guidry answered with a story from his own playing days, one that illustrates exactly why the answer is no.
“Back in my day, hitters would say, ‘we know Goose (Gossage) threw hard because his delivery was all over the place,'” Guidry recalled. “They said, ‘you didn’t look like you were throwing that hard. But you were.’ And that’s why they couldn’t hit me. The same thing with Gerrit.
“I watched that game (Wednesday night against the Royals). He threw a lot of strikes right down the middle, and they still couldn’t hit him. That told me two things. His fastball was taking them by surprise. And he had the confidence to go right at them. That’s what you like to see.”
The Royals faced Cole in his second start and managed very little. He threw 59 of his 79 pitches in the strike zone that night. The 72% strike rate over his first two Yankees appearances since returning is one of the highest in baseball at any point this season.
What Cole’s fastball looks like after surgery
The technical story of Cole’s comeback centers on one thing nobody expected: the fastball has improved.
Conventional medicine suggests pitchers need 12 to 18 months to fully recover from Tommy John surgery. Cole appears to be defying that timeline in real time. Against the Rays in his first start back, he averaged 96.2 mph and touched 98 mph. During one rehab stint at Triple-A, he cracked 99 mph, a velocity he had not reached once during the entire 2024 regular season. The only time he threw 99 in 2024 was in Game 5 of the World Series.
Cole attributed the improved velocity to the increased range of motion the new ligament provides. He noticed the difference even during his minor league appearances.
“I was at something like 80%, which is an absurd amount, it might’ve actually been too high,” Cole said before coming off the injured list. “In terms of getting the ball over the plate, I know I’ve got that in my back pocket. It gives me confidence going forward.”
The contact quality in his Yankees starts has backed up the velocity numbers. Against the Rays, opposing hitters produced an average exit velocity of just 86.6 mph against him. That is soft contact. Cole is not missing bats at elite rates yet, but he does not need to when the balls that are hit are hit weakly.
Where Cole fits in the Yankees’ rotation right now
The Yankees’ starting rotation was already functioning at the highest level in baseball before Cole threw a pitch in 2026. Their starters carried a 3.22 ERA and led the sport with a 6.6 starter WAR according to FanGraphs heading into Cole’s return.
Cole has only added to that Yankees foundation. His two starts gave the Yankees six consecutive quality starts from their rotation, a streak that continued through Friday when Carlos Rodon threw six innings of one-run ball against the Athletics in Sacramento.
Manager Aaron Boone spoke after Cole’s first outing about how the performance exceeded reasonable expectations given the circumstances. Boone’s comments captured both the quality of the start and the broader significance of what Cole’s return means for the Yankees.
“Just build on that,” Boone said. “I thought it was a great first go after 17 months of not being on a big league mound, really. What was really impressive to me was obviously he pitched well, six shutout innings.
“But I thought he managed the game really well. Handled all the different game-like situations against a team like the Rays, where the running game and their speed and athleticism is a factor. He controlled all those in-game situations with a pitch clock. Maybe you would have thought maybe there’d be some rust there, I thought he handled those things so, so well.”
The three-ace picture taking shape for the Yankees
Cam Schlittler has been the Yankees’ best pitcher in 2026 by most measures. Adding Cole to the top of the rotation means that no opposing team gets an easy day against the Yankees’ starting staff. The team pairing Schlittler and Cole in back-to-back games is not giving anyone a comfortable series plan.
The Yankees may be building toward something even more remarkable. Max Fried, currently on the injured list with a left elbow bone bruise, posted a 3.21 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 50 strikeouts across 61.2 innings before getting hurt. When he returns, the Yankees could deploy three starters who each qualify as ace-level talent.
That kind of Yankees rotation depth is rare in the regular season. In October, when teams face the Yankees in a five- or seven-game series, it can feel borderline unfair.
Guidry, who pitched for Yankees teams that went to four World Series and knows Yankees rotation depth, knows what a great rotation can do in the postseason. He watches Cole now and sees a staff with the same ceiling.
The old Yankees ace sees something in Cole that he once saw in himself. The deliberate motion. The ability to rear back and surprise hitters who think they have the timing figured out. The confidence to throw strikes when everyone is watching.
At 96-plus mph and 72% strikes over two starts, Cole is not just returning from surgery. He is reclaiming his place as one of the most dangerous pitchers in baseball and the best the Yankees have had in years.
What do you think? Will Cole end up with a Yankees legacy like Guidry?
