TAMPA, Fla. -- Gerrit Cole raised both hands over his head, going into a full windup as he rocked and fired from a George M. Steinbrenner Field bullpen mound during Spring Training on Friday afternoon.
The resulting motion was classic and deliberate, one the Yankees right-hander says he is considering carrying into the season.
“It just felt good,” Cole said. “Just throwing on the back fields during the summer, I tried it out. I’ve had little idiosyncrasies that have changed over the years. I think I generally just like the rhythm of it.”
More important than the old-school windup is what feels new: Cole’s surgically repaired right elbow.
Cole is nearing the end of what he called a “long and tedious” rehab from Tommy John surgery, performed last March by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone nodded as Cole threw approximately 30 pitches in his latest session, noting: “He looked like Gerrit Cole.”
“Just really efficient, really great command,” Boone said. “When I think of Gerrit and his greatness, a lot of it ties to his delivery. Everything looks like it’s coming out free and easy. I liken it to a diver that dives off the high board and just goes in the water, making no splash. That’s Gerrit.”
Cole returned to the bullpen mound for several sessions late in the 2025 season, then paused before resuming his throwing program in California. He said the rehab experience has “reaffirmed some of my core values.”
“The work during this rehab process is different than what I typically would be doing when healthy,” he said. “Yet I’ve attacked the process the same way, and that has produced good results. It just gives me confidence that I go about my business the right way.”
As Cole prepares to face hitters for the first time since last spring, Austin Wells said the 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner looks like ... well, himself.
“It was really encouraging and exciting to see him on the mound,” said Wells, who caught Cole’s session. “I saw his name on the schedule yesterday and had to make sure I was back there for it. He looked like a Cy Young pitcher; he looked smooth and in control, and confident in his ability.”
Cole’s most recent competitive pitches were thrown against the Dodgers in the deciding contest of the 2024 World Series, including a fifth inning where everything went wrong.
The discomfort he felt last spring didn’t surprise him. He pointed to more than 2,000 innings logged on his right elbow (including postseason), having squeezed plenty of mileage out of his original hardware.
The replacement ligament “feels really good,” which has Cole optimistic about returning to the mound as a force early in the season.
“It feels different than it has been in quite some time,” Cole said.
Boone has suggested Cole may pitch a few innings in Grapefruit League games this spring, a prospect that Cole said he expects to discuss with the coaching staff over the next several weeks.
Even so, his timetable has not been altered. Cole said he has been told typical rehabs stretch between 14 to 18 months, a schedule he’s continuing to follow. The Yankees have targeted late May or sometime in June for his return.
“I’m just kind of doing exactly what I’ve been told,” Cole said. “So when I’m told to push, I push. When I’m told not to, I don’t. I really haven’t deviated hardly at all from our targets.”
Boone said the Yankees are “excited about how well he’s doing” and believes Cole can return to form as a frontline starter upon his return.
“I’m not going to put anything past Gerrit Cole,” Boone said. “He’s so good at his craft, and the success rate on these surgeries is usually pretty good. Everyone’s different, but I’m not going to put any ceilings on what Gerrit could do.”