NEW YORK – Gerrit Cole is scheduled to make his first Minor League rehab start on Friday, when he’ll take the mound for Double-A Somerset.
Cole, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery performed in March 2025, is slated to face the Phillies’ Double-A Reading affiliate at 6:35 p.m. ET. Cole will throw approximately 40 pitches, manager Aaron Boone said on Thursday.
“It’s one step at a time,” Boone said. “We’re looking forward to him starting on Friday, and then we’ll build him from there. Even when he gets back to us [in the Majors], we’ll probably be conservative with him.”
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe is also scheduled to play in the game. Boone said Volpe is expected to play for Somerset on Thursday, Friday and Sunday before shifting to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Cole tossed a side session on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, which went well, earning a green light to begin his Minor League clock. The Yankees have forecast a late May or early June return to the rotation for Cole, the 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner.
Thus far, recovery has gone smoothly for Cole, who made two Spring Training starts – a one-inning outing on March 18 vs. the Red Sox and a 1 2/3-inning start on March 24 against the Cubs in Arizona.
“I have no complaints,” Cole said on Monday. “The stamina was good. The pitches are fine right now. They’re good. I’m a little nitpicky, but everything is good.”
Carlos Rodón is also scheduled to be with Double-A Somerset on Saturday, when he’ll throw in a live batting-practice session -- his final checkpoint before being cleared for a Minor League rehab start.
Rodón had been forecast for a late April or early May return to the rotation, though he was briefly slowed by a right hamstring issue, which the Yankees have factored into the rehab. Boone said if Saturday’s session goes well, Rodón would probably need three starts in the Minors.
“He can get in what he needs to get in,” Boone said. “It also gives him a little more time to not force him to go run and do things you’ve got to do within a game that could aggravate [the hamstring].”