The Yankees have been without reigning AL Cy Young award winner Gerrit Cole for the entire season to this point as he works his way back from a bout of elbow inflammation, though that hasn’t stopped the club from storming out of the gate to an excellent 37-17 record. The club’s starting five of Nestor Cortes, Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, Clarke Schmidt, and Luis Gil have all excelled in Cole’s absence, with Cortes’s 3.29 ERA (122 ERA+) standing as the weakest of the group.
Strong as the rotation has been without Cole, the Yankees are surely anxious to get their ace back into the fold. As one of the most dominant starting pitchers in the game today, Cole has posted a 3.08 ERA (136 ERA+) and 3.27 FIP in four seasons with the Yankees including an AL-best 2.63 ERA with a 3.16 FIP across 209 innings of work last year. Fortunately for the club, it seems Cole is making significant progress in his recovery. Erik Boland of Newsday reported yesterday that Cole threw all of his pitches during a 30-pitch bullpen session and touched the club-imposed velocity limit of 95 mph a few times throughout the session. Chris Kirschner of The Athletic added that Cole could begin a rehab assignment as soon as this coming week, depending on how he bounces back from yesterday’s outing.
That’s exciting news for the Yankees, although Cole would likely need a fairly lengthy rehab assignment in order to build up to a starter’s pitch count before he can return to the club. Cole’s return will give the Yankees something of a logjam in the starting rotation, as none of the club’s current options deserve to be removed from the mix based on their performance. It’s possible that Clarke Schmidt’s previous experience in the bullpen could make him a candidate to be moved out of the rotation in favor of Cole, though the club could also simply opt to utilize a six-man rotation for the time being.
More from around the AL East…
- Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs was pulled from a rehab start in the minor leagues yesterday due to left shoulder tightness, as noted by Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times. Springs underwent Tommy John surgery in April of 2023 and is just two appearances into his rehab in the Florida Complex League. It’s not yet clear if Springs’s shoulder issue is a particularly serious one, but a setback in his rehab would be an unfortunate turn of events for both player and club. The 31-year-old sports an incredible 2.34 ERA ERA in 28 starts for the Rays since the start of the 2022 season and figures to help anchor the club’s rotation once healthy. In the absence of Springs, Shane McClanahan, and Drew Rasmussen this season, Tampa has relied heavily on young, unproven arms such as Taj Bradley, Ryan Pepiot, and Zack Littell.
- Orioles infielder Terrin Vavra missed most of the 2023 season due to what was at the time referred to as a shoulder strain, but Roch Kubatko of MASN relays that, per Vavra, his injury woes last season were much more serious than previously reported. Vavra was diagnosed with a torn labrum in his right shoulder back in September and underwent surgery on the issue later that month. Vavra’s shoulder woes last season could help to explain the 27-year-old’s struggles at the plate last year, when he slashed just .245/.315/.245 in 56 trips to the plate without recording an extra base hit despite a solid rookie performance in 2022. Vavra was outrighted off the Orioles’s 40-man roster during the offseason but remains in the organization as a potential depth option now that he’s healthy, though the club’s deep infield mix seemingly leaves him blocked at the big league level.
I would advocate for the Yanks to utilize a six man rotation. That would preserve arms for the long haul. Keep the eye on the prize Aaron Boone!
I see your point but that won’t happen bc guys like Rodon, Nestor, and Stroman have their routines and you don’t want to mess with that right now. Stroman was offered during ST to start on Opening Day and turned it down bc it would change his schedule.
Boone already said he would not do a 6 man. With how good Clark and Gil have been the best option might be Nestor to the pen.
Most likely to the pen will be Gil who is coming off a TJ surgery. Limiting his innings during the summer will help to preserve him for the playoffs.
Gil’s career high in innings is barely over 100. I expect they’ll move him to the pen to be able to have him all year. Despite how excellent he’s been
@Joe says… Yep. And let Gil piggyback Cole’s starts since he’ll need to build up his pitch count. That also gives the pen a rest.
I agree 6 man rotation makes sense. These guys need to watch their innings, especially if they plan on making a deep postseason run.
Chances are, one of the Yankees’ other starters will suffer an injury before Cole comes back. These things have a way of working themselves out. We see it time and time again.
Whenever I see “A.L. East ” notes…. I’m hoping shapiro and useless atkins got fired in Toronto !!
No need to put the cart in front of the horse, This is a great problem to have. It allows the Yankees to take their time with Cole As well as possibly limit The current rotations workload and overall pitch count down the road.
Twins will happily take Nester Cortez off their hands. We always need more starting pitching..
You can have Nestor in the off-season, for a couple of low level draft minor league players and 3 million in international pool money
If I was the New York Yankees Brain C should call the Chicago Cubs and cut a deal for Kyle Hendricks. I sure the Cubs would be happy to pay 90% of money leave on Kyle contact.
If Vavra ever gets another AB in Baltimore then something seriously has gone wr9ng.
Yep, Mateo and Urias have him blocked. It’s a shame. When healthy he’s a competent hitter in particular can put wood on rawhide in the ph role.
I agree with both of you.
Overall, if Vavra ever has an ab bat there again, something horribly has gone wrong … Because forget Mateo and Urias, he would also be blocked by Gunnar, Westy, and any other infielder we have in AA and AAA.
Urias needs to go. Seems like a great dude, but he is really just blocking people