It’s been 371 days since Yankees ace Gerrit Cole underwent Tommy John surgery, and the wait to see him back on a mound seems to be over. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Cole will start tomorrow’s Grapefruit League game for the Yankees. He’s slated to pitch one inning in his return to game action.
An exact return timetable for Cole remains unclear. The 35-year-old is still a lock to open the season on the injured list. Even if tomorrow’s one inning goes off without a hitch, he’ll need further time to build up to a starter’s workload. That can’t be accomplished in the final week of spring training, but it’s at least feasible that if Cole is ready to throw an inning in a game right now, he could return to the Yankees in late April.
Cole didn’t pitch at all in 2025 after suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament last spring and undergoing Tommy John surgery on March 11. Elbow troubles also limited him to 17 starts (95 innings) in 2024. He hasn’t had a full, health seasons since 2023 — though that proved to be quite the year; Cole tossed 209 innings with a 2.63 ERA, made his sixth All-Star team and won his first Cy Young Award. There’s no telling to how his elbow will respond to tomorrow’s more intense setting until he takes the bump, but the fact that he’s doing so a week before the Yankees even open their season is an encouraging development for Yankee fans.
There’s also good news on the team’s other high-priced but injured starter. Carlos Rodón underwent surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow back in October. Manager Aaron Boone said when camp opened that the big lefty could be back before the end of April. Those comments came nearly a month ago, but it appears Rodón is still on that same track. Boone told reporters this morning that he expects Rodón back “at some point in April,” via Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Boone did not commit to the left-hander pitching in a game before spring training ends but also didn’t rule it out. He’s slated for a live batting practice session this week.
Rodón, 33, pitched 195 1/3 innings with a 3.09 earned run average last season. He stepped up in a big way following Cole’s injury, as both that innings count and his 33 games started were career-high marks. Rodón’s injury history is well known, and October’s surgery is the latest data point on his track record, but the 2024-25 seasons marked the first time in Rodon’s career that he started 30-plus games in back-to-back seasons. He’s a long shot to make it three in a row this year, but if he can return in April and remains healthy, he won’t be too far shy of 30 starts.
Good news notwithstanding, the Yankees will open the season with two of their “big three” free agent starters on the shelf. The third, left-hander Max Fried, will get the ball on Opening Day against Giants ace Logan Webb in San Francisco next Wednesday. He’ll be followed in some order by Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil, Will Warren and offseason trade acquisition Ryan Weathers. All four members of that quartet have minor league options remaining, so their performances both late in camp and early in the season will be worth watching with a close eye. By early May, it’s possible that two of those younger, less-established arms will have been optioned to Triple-A (assuming good health throughout the group — which is never a given).
On the position side of things, Boone confirmed today that he’d be comfortable with Ryan McMahon playing shortstop in a regular season game (via Kirschner). The 31-year-old is slated to open the season at third base but has been getting reps at shortstop throughout camp. He’s one of the game’s better defenders at the hot corner, and it seems he’s shown enough this spring to gain Boone’s trust as a backup option.
McMahon isn’t going to start at shortstop with any regularity, but his ability to at least capably handle that position in a pinch is notable. Anthony Volpe will begin the season on the injured list following offseason shoulder surgery, paving the way for José Caballero to start at shortstop early in the year. Light-hitting utilityman Max Schuemann is the only real shortstop option on the 40-man roster beyond McMahon, so McMahon’s ability to function as Caballero’s backup impacts the composition of the club’s bench.
Backup catcher J.C. Escarra, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and veteran infielder Amed Rosario are all locked into bench spots. Rosario was a shortstop earlier in his career but rated poorly there and played only two shortstop innings last year and 101 the year prior.
If not McMahon, the Yankees might have felt they needed Schuemann or a non-roster invitee like Jonathan Ornelas, Zack Short or veteran Paul DeJong on the bench. All four have had decent or better spring showings. McMahon serving as Caballero’s primary backup option gives Boone and GM Brian Cashman some more flexibility when deciding on the final spot, however. That could pave the way for non-roster pickup Randal Grichuk to make the club and serve as a righty-swinging complement to Trent Grisham, who batted .182/.303/.348 against lefties even during 2025’s breakout year.
I think it makes sense to let McMahon play some SS. It would be different if he was a star offensive player. But his calling card is defense. Let it shine.
Huh? They have two defensive first SS’s rostered, why take the defensive first 3B and make him play SS when they dont really have any other legit 3B options?
I get Volpes hurt but you’d create one hole defensively to fill another, just doesnt make sense logistically. He should really only play SS in emergencies and not actually be relied on as an option
It’s the Crashman and Boondoggle way, put players in positions they have no business playing.
@Begamin
It creates more roster flexibility at SS. The same with Ben Rice who hasn’t caught this entire S.T. except for bullpens. They’re both available in emergencies.
The Raven—Hey, it always works fine in video games!
Dude he’s meant to play short if caballero gets hurt or is sick or has a day to day thing lol
Playing McMahon at shortstop is only going to be in “emergency situations” so just get that out of your head.
This is what I would call a “lefty” take. Yankees should have signed Corey Seager when they had the chance. Couldn’t make it work with Soto and now they are in their traditional purgatory status with Bellinger and Chisholm leading the way. Meanwhile Boston is flush with assets and on their way to being the next LA Dodgers.
Cabby should play full time in my opinion. He was a 2.9 WAR player last year based on his great defense, borderline average batting lines (though he was great in the 2nd half), and that he led the league in steals. If you’re not convinced the uptick in offense post-trade for real, he can hit 9th and grind an at-bat to get on and wreac havoc before turning the lineup over to Jazz, Judge, Bellinger, etc.
UH…so him Saturday in the Tigers game and he blew at least 1 play at SS….typical Boone….play somebody out of position for roster flexibility….everyone criticized Volpe for his sucky offense so now we’re going to use another sucky offensive player out of position at SS…..
Makes sense to use McMahon in a pinch if Caballero gets hurt in a game. If that were to happen I imagine they’ll make a roster move the next day to bring in a legitimate SS. Watching McMahon at SS in ST was a little rough. He didn’t look comfortable at all
They still have Oswaldo Cabrera and Paul Dejong.
Exactly. Among others at AAA
This bench is so oddly constructed. All the options are some shade of terrible.
i’m not a cashman booster but the bench seems very-good-enough to me. escarra is an acceptable BUC and goldschmidt/rosario/grichuk can hang in against tough lefties. rice is still scary at first base so goldy is a logical defensive replacement. faint praise for a huge-market team but the bench could be worse
I don’t disagree, but I would call this bench a very inelegant answer to a complicated question. They don’t really have a great backup for SS (or 2b, for that matter) unless they roster one of the less appealing vets in camp which means relegating Grichuk to the minors (or off the team). Goldy can only play one position, and the weak platoon side at that. BUCs are what they are, so whatever. Rosario seems to play most defensive positions cromulently (at best).
‘Bench could be worse’ is probably the most charitable description of it. I look at this and kind of shrug and say ‘I guess’, which is a less than enthusiastic way to view a team that wants to win a world series.
Yanks need to give Spencer a call up alredy
They’re wasting 30-30 potential
30-30 with a 39% k rate
If I was a yankee fan I would want to see him too. But where do you put him?
instead of giving grisham QO, yanks could have called up spencer. he is way past due for a promotion
also, they could have had spencer + jasson in the OF. yanks decided to do what yanks do which is overpay for the big name. stanton’s gonna get hurt at some point too. so there’s also DH. on any other ball club spencer woulda been a lineup regular a year ago
Not really. He’s had half a season at AAA so far.
Jones and Dominguez is a significant downgrade from Bellinger and Grisham, at least this season. Neither guy is ready for a starting role in the big leagues yet and is best off playing every day in AAA. As you alluded to, an injury to Stanton, or any of the starting OFs, opens up a spot for Dominguez to play every day.
We’ve been through this Estevan Florial and Clint Frazier a while ago with some Yankees fans pining for prospects to get promoted. Jones needs seasoning at AAA and I’m being optimistic about him. Same for Lombard, Jr.
ye bec grisham and his .230 avg is so much more valuable lol.
spencer’s 162 game pace in 2025 was 50 hr and 40 sb. if that doesnt prove major league ready…. yanks have been intentionally bringing up spencer very slowly bec they always have a logjam in the OF with judge, soto, belly, jasson… there’s always someone ahead of spencer on the depth chart. why dont they just trade him instead of wasting away his talent? he is 25 years old. he’s ready. he’s been ready.
I’m still high on Jones as well. The strikeouts are an issue but not enough to give up on him. His back is the issue that scares me. I think he sees some time in the big leagues later this year and gets a chance to win the CF job next year
@salem
I hope you do realize that the jump from AAA to the MLB level will be any player’s biggest challenge in their pro career. If Jones had been setting the minors on fire, they wouldn’t have re-signed Belli and opted for Harrison Bader or Cedric Mullins instead.
I immediately disregard your opinions if batting average is still your go to stat in 2026. That’s Jones’ pace in AA/AAA and also comes with a high strikeout rate. He’s been working on a new swing this spring for a reason and he’s currently not big league ready. Grisham is likely off the team after this year which opens up CF next year. Judge was 26 in his first full season, so was Ben Rice. Age is irrelevant
No, I think he’s saying that BA is still an additional valuable tool to judge players by along with all the other tools….there are endless analytics lists that keeps growing that can make a blind man a seeing man if you pick the right analytics…..
Grisham hit 34 HRs and had an OPS of .811 last year. Reducing him, or any player, to an antiquated stat that values a single the same as a home run is asinine
@ronk
All u have to do is mute me, then no more worries about asinine comments
Im such a nice guy ill make it easy & mute you. Have a wonderful day
Muting is for the weak. Why make comments on a public forum if you can’t handle criticism?
I hope this was written with AI, because the numerous mistakes make it difficult to read…. As I tell my students, proofread and edit before submitting a formal assignment, little mistakes such as these can damage your credibility.
Some may call me names –“grammar fascist” or whatever, but why is it so hard for people to write well?
You need to up your comprehension skills. It’s not difficult to read.
Because society has changed. Writing isn’t important any more. People don’t care about grammar. That’s an old person thing. That’s just how it has evolved. You’re pining for a grammatical excellence relic of the past.
“He hasn’t had a full, health seasons since 2023 — though that proved to be quite the year; Cole tossed 209 innings with a 2.63 E.RA, made his sixth all star team and won his first Cy Young award”. Quite the bizarre word salad. Like we tell our cats when they try to eat too fast and end up hurling the food all over the carpet: slow down! Aside from the sics, I think your readers know who Gerrit Cole is. Are you going to fit in other elements of his linked in profile into that run-on, maybe a blurb about how his grandfather was a coal miner from Pennsylvania?
Despite that word salad, it was easy for smart people to determine what he was getting across.
How bout: he hasn’t had a full healthy season since 2023. Full stop.
Thhhhhheeeeeeeeee Yankees Win!! 🤣
This team is MID. Cole fried and rodon are all fragile ughhh
Gil’s not missing bats so far. If/when they pull him from the rotation he should be put in the pen. Let him got nuts for 25 pitches and you have a weapon.
Worrying about McMahon playing a game at SS is crazy talk. If Volpe has a setback or Caballero gets hurt they’ll put an actual SS at the position. It goes to show how scared they are of Rosario getting reps there. He better mash lefties of his roster spot will be taken once Volpe comes back.
Leave it to Boone to stay committed with Gil. – “It’s right in front of him.”
Last time Rosario played SS on a regular basis was early 2023. I don’t think the Yankees are unique in their evaluation of him as a defender. He’s there to spell McMahon against lefties and I imagine they’ll give him more than 4-6 weeks to show them he can do it (again)
billy: Aware Rosario is awful there. Was bringing it up because despite coming up at SS and being billed as a future star the Yankees would rather try converting an older guy with zero experience than let him play the very occasional game there. He better keep hitting because a utility infielder who can’t play SS is not an ideal roster fit.
My optimism about this year as a Yankees fan is boundless.
Mcmahon should be 3b only would rather see cabrera if healthy or rosario at SS in a pinch… this team is deep but they need to hit to win having a solid contact guy that hits singles and doubles all day is whats needed most hopefully that is rosario finding enough at bats
Ryan McMahon is terrible. I think he will be released or traded after the All Star break.
A fox to this is moving Escarra in a trade and acquiring a RH batting catcher who can also play outfield. The kid over in Pittsburgh, I believe his name is Henry Owens? He would fill that role. Now you have more options, you can take either Grichuk or Schumann. You have more roster flexibility.
Do the Pirates want to trade Henry Davis? Do the Yankees have things to trade for Henry Davis which the Pirates want? Does Henry Davis play the outfield well enough to make that significant addition value to his skill set? Also, thus far in Davis’s career, he has been a BAD major league hitter. Like, really bad. It’s plausible that Escarra is straight up better than him and his handedness shouldn’t matter that much. Like, the handedness of your backup catcher isn’t that important.
Vivas is out of options. Can he play SS or trade for someone before he’s gone for nothing??
I think he gets traded for cash considerations, if they’re lucky international bonus pool space or a DSL pitcher, before the end of Spring Training.