CLEVELAND -- After Gerrit Cole threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the Royals on May 27, he spent his postgame media session lamenting the mistakes he felt he made during the outing.
After Cole allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Guardians on Wednesday, he used his postgame session to talk about how he felt good about the start despite the rough final score.
Confusing? Sure. But such is life when you’re a former American League Cy Young Award winner working your way back from a career-altering Tommy John surgery that wiped away all of his 2025 campaign.
Cole will get another chance to try to get it all clicking tonight when he takes the mound against the Guardians for the second straight start.
“The Guardians got him for a couple long balls the other day, but his first few starts have mostly been excellent,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said prior to the Yankees’ 7-5, 10-inning win over the Guardians at Progressive Field on Monday night. “I feel like he’s got a great feel for what he’s doing and is managing game situations well. I’ve been excited with how well Gerrit’s been throwing.”
While Cole has given Yankees fans plenty to go off in his first three starts of the season, it’s still hard to extrapolate a ton given he’s 35 and had a 569-day layoff between MLB appearances due to his March 2025 Tommy John surgery.
That layoff hasn’t stopped him from piecing together moments when he’s looked like vintage Cole, however. Although his 20.6% strikeout rate would be the lowest mark he has posted since 2016, he has walked just 5.9% of the hitters he has faced, and just 28% of the balls put in play against him have been classified as hard-hit.
Cole’s fastball has averaged 96 mph, which is actually a tick above where it was prior to his surgery.
That strong velocity didn’t help Cole much against the Guardians on Wednesday, as he left too many pitches over the heart of the plate and ended up allowing three home runs.
One of those homers was hit by Guardians star José Ramírez, who is 11-for-26 with five extra-base hits (including three homers) in the regular season against Cole.
Kyle Manzardo also hit Cole well, going 2-for-3 with a double and a homer in his first career regular-season game against the big right-hander.
But if there has ever been a pitcher who should be able to bounce back from a start that rough, it’s Cole, who has 1,972 career innings under his belt and a Cy Young Award on his mantle.
The Yankees’ rotation has largely been able to handle the loss of Cole (an AL-leading 3.12 ERA entering Monday), but any chance of them playing deep into the postseason hinges on Cole’s right arm being 100%. His start against Cleveland will serve as another chance for him to get closer to that goal.
“Gerrit’s been great,” Boone said. “He crushed the rehab, and I feel like he’s in a really good place and throwing the ball really well.”