Yankees’ ace Cole is prescribed rest
TAMPA, Fla. — Based on Gerrit Cole’s recovery timeline, the Yankees’ ace could make his 2024 debut around late May, or early June.
But the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner isn’t looking that far ahead.
“At this stage, you’re focusing on the first three to four weeks,’’ Cole said, referring to the time period he’ll refrain from throwing a baseball, due to an elbow issue that sent shivers through Yankees camp.
Back at Steinbrenner Field, on Saturday morning Cole said he’s “dealing with some nerve inflammation and edema,” a buildup of fluid in the elbow area.
“Just rest, recovery the next three, four weeks, and ramp back up from there,’’ said Cole, who returned from a two-day visit to Los Angeles, having been examined by orthopedic specialist Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
Cole said he “felt pretty good’’ leaving ElAttrache’s office, with no tear detected in his ulnar collateral ligament.
The ace right-hander was having trouble recovering between his spring outings, the last of which occurred March 7, in a simulated game.
“I think we determined that we just got a little too hot a little too quick this spring,’’ Cole said of his early work.
“It progressed through the normal recovery cycle, but at a certain time we didn’t get back to the baseline which was our target, and at that point it was time to see what was going on.’’
During this time, GM Brian Cashman said: “I felt really good about my interactions with [Cole] as he walked me through the process” of how he was feeling. “I really trust his knowledge of himself, of his craft.”
Cole said he “felt great during the offseason,” and that elbow discomfort is “not a common experience for me. I haven’t really dealt with anything like this before, so … there’s a little bit of uncertainty, but I had a lot of faith.”
Next steps for Cole, Yankees
During this no-throw period, “we’re going to keep the arm live ... that was the term that the doctors described,” Cole said of doing certain exercises such as plyometrics.
It’s basically “doing anything you can tolerate” movement-wise, enabling Cole to “hit the ground running” when he resumes throwing a baseball around early to mid-April.
“To have a diagnosis feels good for everyone — here’s the plan, let’s go attack it,” said manager Aaron Boone. “Definitely good to have him around today and see him in a good frame of mind.”
Boone has named lefty Nestor Cortes as his Opening Day starter, and the Yankees are sorting through candidates to fill Cole’s rotation void, with Luis Gil and Cody Poteet as possible front-runners.
Cashman also mentioned Will Warren, Luke Weaver and Clayton Beeter as being in the conversation. Right-hander Cody Morris was optioned Saturday to Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.