Cole takes another big step toward Yankees return with 3rd rehab start

Gerrit Cole threw 60 pitches in his third rehab start with Double-A Somerset on Wednesday afternoon, taking another significant step toward his eventual return to the big league mound.

Cole scattered three hits while allowing three runs and recording three strikeouts across 5 2/3 innings of work in a 6-5 loss to the Portland Sea Dogs. He departed the game in the top of the sixth inning with two outs and a 1-2 count on Portland’s Ronald Rosario, having reached his apparent pitch limit.

“I feel good,” Cole told reporters in Somerset. “It’s nice to get six ups. It was a good day.”

The 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner cruised early, setting down the first 11 batters he faced before allowing a two-out single in the top of the fourth inning. The next batter, Johanfran Garcia, promptly tagged Cole for a two-run homer to left field; in the fifth inning, Max Ferguson launched a homer to right field.

Cole displayed the sort of plus command that he’s featured throughout his rehab stint. He did not walk a batter -- and did not even go to a three-ball count -- while throwing 45 of 60 pitches for strikes. Across three rehab starts, Cole has walked just one batter while running a 79% strike rate.

“A lot of strikes, that’s good,” Cole said. “Not a lot of large misses. Consistency out of all the offerings today, which was nice.”

That includes his changeup, which Cole threw just four percent of the time in 2024. He singled that out as the pitch he was particularly pleased with in Wednesday’s outing.

Cole has upped his pitch count in each of his three rehab starts. He followed up a 44-pitch outing with Double-A Somerset on April 16 with a 52-pitch outing last Thursday for High-A Hudson Valley.

The Yankees have anticipated that Cole will return to the Majors in late May or early June. He missed all of the 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last March.

Even though his eventual return dares closer with each rehab start, Cole knows it’s important to keep his focus on where he is now.

“You have moments where you think about where you would like to be, and I think that’s natural,” Cole said. “Maybe those moments happen more frequently as you get closer to the end. But, even though it’s one start, there’s five days of process that you’ve got to execute. I’m confident that I’m going to execute those five days really well, but the reality is, it’s been a while since I’ve done them. It may seem like the same thing over and over again, but that’s the point.

“... I want to get there, but I have to build such a big base to get up there, get in the flow and start to execute. In that regard, it’s easy to stay focused on what I want to do, even though when I’m day dreaming sometimes, I’m wishing that I’m pitching against the Rangers.”