KANSAS CITY -- Gerrit Cole broke the ice and handled the hoopla on Friday against Tampa Bay. Now, he's preparing to settle in and embrace the grind of a long Major League season.
When Cole returned from a 569-day absence because of Tommy John surgery, the Yankees right-hander gave the fans at Yankee Stadium something to see while delivering six scoreless innings. Cole allowed just two hits. He walked three, struck out two and flooded the zone with 18 of 22 first-pitch strikes.
But the work is just beginning, and Cole's next challenge comes Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium when he takes the mound against the Royals at 7:40 p.m. ET. Pitching on regular four days' rest, the perennial Cy Young Award contender will try to build on what he accomplished in his long-awaited return against the Rays.
"I thought it was a great first-go," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Cole's 2026 premiere. "Just looking for him to go back out there and hopefully continue to get settled. Get back into the routine, the flow and the rhythm of pitching every fifth or sixth day."
Cole left the Tampa Bay game with a 1-0 lead, but the Rays rallied to win and left Cole with a no-decision. It marked Cole's first Major League game since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series against the Dodgers. The 35-year-old Cole missed the entire 2025 season and the opening 51 games this year.
Cole is a six-time All-Star and was the unanimous winner of the 2023 American League Cy Young Award. He has finished in the top five in Cy Young voting six times and could solidify an already strong Yankees starting rotation the rest of the season.
With a repertoire of four-seam fastballs, sinkers, sliders, changeups and knuckle-curves, Cole averaged 96.1 mph on 72 pitches against the Rays.
"What was really impressive -- obviously he pitched well with six shutout innings -- but I thought he also managed the game well," Boone said. "He handled all the game-like situations against a team in the Rays with a running game. Their speed and athleticism is a factor. You would have thought maybe there would be some rust there, but [Cole] handled those things so well."