{"id":628427,"date":"2026-03-17T16:43:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T16:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/628427\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T16:43:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T16:43:15","slug":"yankees-gerrit-cole-to-make-spring-debut-another-key-step-in-return-from-tommy-john-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/628427\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees\u2019 Gerrit Cole to make spring debut, another key step in return from Tommy John surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. \u2014 For the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2025, New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole will be back in pinstripes facing an opposing lineup.<\/p>\n

Cole will make his spring training debut on Wednesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field against the Boston Red Sox, another key step in his return to the big leagues. The 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner is expected to pitch only one inning, as he continues a slow build in his rehab process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that he\u2019s getting into a game now kind of indicates where he is and how well it is going,\u201d Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday. \u201cI don\u2019t want people to think we\u2019re speeding this thing up or anything. That\u2019s not the case. It\u2019s just \u2014 he\u2019s ready to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boone mentioned at the beginning of camp that Cole making a start during spring training was a possibility, if everything went smoothly for the right-hander. The Yankees decided after Cole threw 35 pitches in live batting practice<\/a> on Thursday that he was ready for this next step.<\/p>\n

Signs that Cole can return to being a dominant ace for the Yankees have been present throughout the team\u2019s camp. His fastball velocity and the sharpness of his breaking pitches have returned to the levels they were at before surgery wiped out his entire 2025 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially guys with great stuff like Gerrit, you see them come back, and the command is not always there right away,\u201d Boone said. \u201cI think what\u2019s been most impressive is just how sharp he\u2019s been.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of Gerrit\u2019s superpowers was his delivery. He\u2019s got how you draw it up. You\u2019re out scouting, and that\u2019s what an 80-grade delivery (on a 20-80 scouting scale) looks like. That lends itself to command. It\u2019s one of the things he\u2019s always done so well. I think that\u2019s paying dividends right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole\u2019s anticipated return, which could come as soon as the start of June, might be the most important Yankees storyline to watch in 2026.<\/p>\n

Carlos Rod\u00f3n, another injured Yankees starter, remains on track to return to the rotation at some point in April. Boone said Rod\u00f3n will throw a live batting practice Thursday, but he\u2019s not expected to pitch in a game before spring training ends.<\/p>\n

The Yankees brought back 24 of 26 players from their run to the AL Division Series, a sign that the front office believes this roster can win a championship.<\/p>\n

The Yankees pushed back against their doubters during the offseason when asked about running back a roster that was trounced by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2025. And their belief that 2026 could go differently for them hinges on Cole being a difference-maker at the front of the rotation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. \u2014 For the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2025, New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,28,4,62],"class_list":{"0":"post-628427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-fantasy-baseball","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-new-york-yankees"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116245523128125365","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}