BRONX, NY — Before the New York Yankees began the 2024 regular season, the franchise saw their bonafide ace in Gerrit Cole, the reigning American League Cy Young award winner, go down with a right-elbow injury that was described as “nerve irritation and edema.”
For Cole, a master of his craft at 33-years-old, one who is as methodical as they come on the mound, suffering a major setback and getting forced onto the Injured List for the first two-and-half-so months of the Yankees’ quest to a 28th World Series championship, was no easy task — physically, mentally, and emotionally. While watching from the dugout, the competitive urge of needing to be out there wore on him — day-by-day — as the Bronx Bombers dominated on the playing diamond — leading MLB in team-ERA, and standing in the top-five of several offensive categories such as HR, RBI, and OPS. Not to mention, just as of recently, becoming the first team in MLB this season to reach 50 wins.
Gerrit Cole, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Anthony Volpe in Yankees dugout during Twins-Yankees series last week in the Bronx – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Despite not being directly correlated with that success, with his name not sketched in the lineup card every fifth day, and not listed on the active roster, Cole made the best out of his time on the shelf by becoming an ‘unofficial’ pitching coach for the team, alongside pitching coach Matt Blake. On countless occasions throughout his IL stint, he lent a helping hand and word of advice to several Yankee pitchers and catchers throughout their respective bullpen sessions, and whenever the time called for it.
Then came Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, where the time for Cole to get the call arrived…
AL East Division Showdown between the #Orioles (47-25) and #Yankees (51-24) tonight in the Bronx with the reigning American League Cy Young award winner Gerrit Cole making his season debut ⚾️🗽
First pitch set for 7:10 pm ET with coverage on Amazon Prime#Birdland #RepBX #MLB pic.twitter.com/WKn06suYse
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) June 19, 2024
Following three successful rehab starts in the minor leagues to ramp back up — two with the Somerset Patriots (AA) and one with the Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders (AAA) — the right-hander made his well-anticipated season debut on Wednesday evening at the stadium in front of a sold-out crowd of 47,155.
Outside of missing on certain locations in the strike zone against Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson, and Ryan O’Hearn in the first inning, as well as Cedric Mullins to lead off the fifth — a common mistake as a MLB pitcher is still working himself back into peak form following an IL stint — Cole was consistently effective with his command in the zone, coasting in the 94-97 MPH range on his four-seam fastball (95.1 AVG MPH on 4-seamers with a max at 97.5 MPH).
Gunnar Henderson rips a double off of Gerrit Cole in the first inning of Wednesday’s matchup at Yankee Stadium – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Overall, he labored through four innings of work with five strikeouts while allowing two earned runs on three hits and a walk.
“It was kind of a special game for me a little bit,” said Cole following his season debut, in which the Yankees lost 7-6 in extra-innings. “It’s just been a long few months and a lot of emotions.”
“I wasn’t too sure on how I would feel out there, but locating the ball always quells the nerves, you know.”
Gerrit Cole walks off the mound with a loud ovation from fans following his season debut tonight, where he went four innings ⚾️
Cole threw 62 pitches overall, 40 for strikes, and recorded five Ks#RepBX #Yankees #LatinoSports pic.twitter.com/DzV5njsz47
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) June 20, 2024
“I thought he was under control and as the outing went on, he got a little bit better,” noted Yankees manager Aaron Boone on Cole. “He had a little bit of everything — got a strikeout with the breaking ball, flashed a good slider for a strikeout. I thought the cutter was a good pitch for him all night.”
“Reached back for some heaters that he executed as well so all in all, I thought he threw the ball well.”
Gerrit Cole salutes the crowd after his season debut on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Cole’s batterymate Jose Trevino: “Honestly, I had no expectations for him. I just wanted to see him get out there. I thought he threw the ball well, very excited to have him back.”
Robert Rizzo is a journalist and editor of Latino Sports – Email: RobertRiz994@gmail.com
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