Aaron Boone hasn’t revealed much, but New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole appears ready to return to the rotation.
Cole launched his third rehab on Friday with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and was dominant again. The 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner threw 70 pitches in 4 1/3 innings against the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, striking out 10 and walking none.
Cole has yet to play for the Yankees this season after being sidelined during spring training with right elbow inflammation. In his three rehab starts, he recorded 19 strikeouts and zero walks in 12 1/3 innings.
Boone would just say “we’ll see” when asked before the Yankees’ game against the Boston Red Sox on Friday about when Cole would return to the big league club.
“You want to see him push himself to the limit tonight, see how he’s carrying his stuff,” Boone said. “It will be a different level of adrenaline being there than when he came back with us. Making sure he gets through this, what tomorrow will be like when he wakes up and starts moving. These will be things we all talk about.”
Boone said he wants to talk to Cole and the team’s medical staff to see how Cole’s arm is doing.
Cole was happy with his progress and expects a decision to be made by Sunday on whether he will need a fourth rehab.
“I really want to come back soon,” said Cole via Sal Maiorana from Democrat and Chronicle. “What a fun club they are right now. So yeah, that’s part of the reason I’m just trying to make sure I’m in a good position to help them.”
