Gerrit Cole’s long-awaited Yankees’ 2024 debut finally here
The long wait for Gerrit Cole is over.
The Yankees are cautioning, though, that the wait for a full-strength Gerrit Cole continues.
The reigning American League Cy Young award winner is set to make his season debut Wednesday about 3 ¹/₂ months after his elbow set off a panic early in spring training.
After one Grapefruit League start, Cole was shut down and eventually diagnosed with nerve inflammation and edema, which crucially did not require surgery.
He did not throw again for several weeks.
He couldn’t climb atop a mound again until May 5.
His minor league rehab assignment did not begin until June 4, more than two months into the season.
Cole’s long ramp back to the majors included three rehab starts, the final of which featured 4 ¹/₃ innings and 68 pitches on Friday.
The righty will be ready to throw about 80 pitches when he makes his long-awaited return and faces off with the second-place Orioles.
“The main thing is you want to get him through it healthy,” acting manager Brad Ausmus said before the Yankees’ 4-2 win over the Orioles in The Bronx on Tuesday. “With Gerrit Cole, I think that the big picture is we want him the entire year, and this is another step in returning him to full Gerrit Cole, Cy Young form.”
Cole did not look rusty in his rehab, in which he allowed one earned run in 12 ¹/₃ innings while striking out 19.
The Yankees did not need to rush the 33-year-old back sooner with a rotation that entered play with the best ERA (2.90) in the majors.
Luis Gil won the fifth-starter job out of camp and has pitched like the ace he replaced. The goal for Wednesday, even more than winning, will be ensuring Cole makes it through the outing OK.
“There’s going to be watchful eyes on him because we certainly want Gerrit Cole for the entire season,” Ausmus said. “This is a great first step because we need him back in the rotation. It’s good to have him here.”
If there is any kind of downside to the Yankees welcoming back arguably the best pitcher in baseball, Ausmus joked about losing essentially another coach in the dugout during the days he starts. Cole has been around the club plenty, Gil recently referring to him as a “professor.”
“We’re going to miss his coaching abilities in the dugout,” Ausmus said.
Ausmus assumed managerial duties for much of the game because Boone attended his son Brandon’s high school graduation.
Boone returned to the dugout mid-game and was driving to the Stadium, listening to the game on the radio, when Aaron Judge was hit.
“He wants to watch the graduation, be able to see his son after the graduation is over, take some pictures and then he’ll make his way back to the Stadium,” said Ausmus, who has five years of managerial experience and who had filled in after Boone’s three ejections this season.
Included in a busy day of transactions was shifting Clarke Schmidt to the 60-day injured list.
Schmidt, sidelined with a right lat strain, is not eligible to return until July 26.
Boone said the team is still waiting to learn the severity of top prospect Jasson Dominguez’s oblique injury with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
After allowing nine stolen bases against the Red Sox on Sunday — the most they had given up in over a century — the Yankees limited Baltimore to one.
The Yankees welcomed the recipients of the 2024 Yankees-Stonewall scholarships onto the field to watch batting practice and be featured in a pregame ceremony.
The Yankees-Stonewall Scholarship Initiative awards $50,000 worth of scholarships to “student leaders who have demonstrated academic achievement, a commitment to equality and impactful support for the LGBTQ+ community.”