Yankees ace Cole to get MRI on elbow amid bounce-back issues
New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will have an MRI of his right elbow after experiencing issues in bouncing back following spring training starts.
The 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner has been durable in career, making at least 30 starts in each of the last six full regular seasons.
“He described it as his recovery, leading into his next start, has been more akin to what he feels in the season when he’s making 100 pitches,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday. “He usually doesn’t have the recovery issues he’s having. It’s been more of a challenge, more taxing. So we’re going to get an MRI to see what we’re dealing with here.”
The 33-year-old has been throwing fewer pitches in his spring training starts this year than other rotation members.
“I think there’s a level of discomfort, but I wouldn’t describe it as he’s in pain,” Boone said. “His stuff and his command has been really good in his outings. He’s just having a hard time recovering like he’s used to.’’
Cole is entering the fifth season of a $324 million, nine-year contract that pays $36 million annually. He has the right to opt out after the season and become a free agent, but if he opts out the Yankees can void the opt out by adding a guaranteed $36 million salary for 2029.
■ RED SOX: Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito will undergo right elbow surgery today, potentially ending his first season with the team before it even begins.
Manager Alex Cora confirmed the development to reporters on Monday. The decision comes after Giolito traveled to Alabama last week to get a second opinion from Dr. Jeffrey R. Dugas.
“Lucas is having surgery tomorrow. The extent of it, we don’t know yet. We know it’s with the ligament,” manager Alex Cora said. “So we’ll know more tomorrow when they go in. The type of surgery, we don’t know yet.”
Giolito, who signed a $38.5 million, two-year deal with the Red Sox, made two starts in spring training. He tossed a pair of scoreless innings in his first outing before reporting discomfort in the elbow after getting tagged for four runs and three walks in 2 1/3 innings against Minnesota on March 1.
This will be the second major right-elbow surgery for the 29-year-old Giolito. The right-hander had Tommy John surgery on Aug. 31, 2012, less that two months after Washington made him the top overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft.
Giolito reached the majors in 2016 with Washington. He was an All-Star in 2019 while pitching for the Chicago White Sox and has been reliable during his bigleague career, throwing at least 160 innings in five of the last six seasons.
■ GIANTS: Third baseman J.D. Davis was released by the San Francisco Giants on Monday after beating the team last month in salary arbitration and will get just over $1.1 million in termination pay rather than a $6.9 million salary.
Davis was awarded the salary by a three-person panel rather than the team’s $6.55 million offer. Under baseball’s collective bargaining agreement, negotiated contracts for arbitration-eligible players are guaranteed, while salaries decided by an arbitration panel are not. That allowed the Giants to release Davis for 30 days’ termination pay, which came to $1,112,903.
“We negotiate all of our arbitration cases in good faith and tried to reach an agreement with all of our arbitration-eligible players, him included,” Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said in a video call. “Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Davis, who turns 31 next month, hit .248 with 18 homers and 69 RBIs last year in his first full season with the Giants, who obtained him from the New York Mets in August 2022. He also plays first base and outfield but became expendable when the Giants agreed to a $54 million, three-year contract with third baseman Matt Chapman.