Yankees ace Gerrit Cole to return from elbow surgery against the Rays
NEW YORK — The long wait nearly is over for Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees. Cole is scheduled to return from Tommy John surgery and make his season debut against the Tampa Bay Rays, his first big league outing almost in 19 months. A six-time All-Star and the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner, Cole hasn’t pitched in the majors since October 2024 in Game 5 of the World Series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It’s been tough. I mean, I’ve missed it quite a bit,” he said at Yankee Stadium. “There’s been some blessings along the way as well.
I talked about my family, and spending time with my boys. But largely I’m just looking forward to being really tired and having that exhaustion, like, mean something. ” Cole was set to throw a bullpen and will be on a pitch count during his first start back, manager Aaron Boone said.
“He hasn’t been in that flow of competition for 17 months. That being said, it is Gerrit Cole,” Boone said. “He looks great to me.
So, my expectation is that he’s going to be really good. ” Even after fellow Yankees ace Max Fried landed on the injured list with a left elbow bone bruise, Boone said the team still intended to have Cole make a seventh minor league rehabilitation start before rejoining a big league rotation that includes Cam Schlittler, Carlos Rodón, Will Warren and Ryan Weathers. But after the 35-year-old right-hander threw 86 pitches over 5 1/3 innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against the Syracuse Mets, Cole and the Yankees changed course.
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