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Yankees sign catcher to compete with Austin Wells.
The New York Yankees starting rotation is set to get a boost as Gerrit Cole is progressing well after he underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the entirety of the 2025 season.
Cole threw his first bullpen on Friday, Feb. 13 as pitchers and catchers have reported for Spring Training. Yankees catcher Austin Wells caught the pen for Cole, and delivered a strong message on how the veteran right-hander looked.
“He looks great, he looks sharp, he looks like Gerrit Cole, it was refreshing to see,” Wells said. “That was my first time catching him since he had surgery, so he looked great.”
When asked if Cole looked at all like someone coming off of a major surgery, Wells confidence didn’t waver.
“I think he looks like his old self. His confidence was there, he looked great. I think he’s in full-season form and he could get outs right now if he needed to.
Cole Still On Original Timeline Despite Progression
Cole underwent Tommy John surgery on March 11, 2025, meaning it’s been just over 11 months of recovery as of today, Valentine’s Day 2026. Though Wells and Cole himself both confirmed that he’s feeling good, the Yankees still seem adamant on keeping him on his original timeline, which was anywhere between 14-18 months.
According to MLB insider Jorge Castillo, the Yankees seem confident he’ll be back on the early end of that timeline, which is June.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone also spoke on Cole’s timeline:
“The last thing we want to do is push him early in the season just because he looks like he does now,” Boone said. “The reality is he didn’t pitch last year on top of having that surgery, and we want to make sure we give him the proper time to make sure he is good and ready to come back, built up in a smart way. We won’t rush that with him, even if it continues to go incredibly well.”
Boone has confirmed that he’s open to letting Cole pitch in a very limited capacity in Spring Training games. Even if he looks great, there’s no chance he’ll start the season in the rotation, but it will open the possibility of a late May-early June return to the field.
Yankees Rotation Will Be Undermanned to Start Season
Not only will New York be without Cole to start the 2025 season, but it will also be without Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt.
Rodon underwent surgery in his left elbow following the Yankees playoff exit last season. The surgery removed loose bodies and a bone spur in his throwing elbow. He’s expected to miss most, if not all of April, but shouldn’t miss more than six weeks to start the season.
Schmit will be out much longer, as he underwent a Tommy John surgery of his own on July 11, 2025. If he follows a similar timeline as Cole, it’s unlikely we see him on the mound until September at the earliest.
This leaves Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, and Luis Gil as the three healthy starters on the roster.
Matt Skillings Matt Skillings is a Boston based sports journalist and a graduate of UMass Amherst, where he majored in journalism and communication. Matt covered the UMass men’s ice hockey team for three years for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. He was also a media intern for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League for two summers. Matt has additional bylines with the New England Hockey Journal, the Boston Globe and MassLive. More about Matt Skillings
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