{"id":628486,"date":"2026-03-17T17:16:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T17:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/628486\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T17:16:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T17:16:22","slug":"yankees-gerrit-cole-to-make-first-start-since-tommy-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/628486\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees\u2019 Gerrit Cole to make first start since Tommy John"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. \u2013 Gerrit Cole is ready for game action.<\/p>\n

Well, exhibition game action, anyway, as the Yankees\u2019 announced that the right-hander is scheduled to start Wednesday\u2019s spring training contest against the Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field. It will be Cole\u2019s first start of any kind since undergoing Tommy John surgery a little over a year ago.<\/p>\n

The plan is for Cole, who has cracked 97 mph in live batting practice sessions this spring<\/a>, to throw one inning against Boston. While it won\u2019t be a long outing, it will check a box that Cole and the Yankees previously stopped short of committing to this spring.<\/p>\n

The outing will also mark the most significant step yet in a rehab process that has gone as planned thus far.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s been excited just how good he\u2019s looked,\u201d Aaron Boone said Tuesday before the Yankees played the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park. \u201cSo the fact that he\u2019s getting into a game now, I think just kind of indicates where he is and how well it is going. I don\u2019t want, necessarily, people to think we\u2019re speeding this thing up or anything. That\u2019s not the case. It\u2019s just he\u2019s ready to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the welcomed lack of hiccups, the Yankees and Cole have been adamant about not accelerating that rehab process this spring. That remains unchanged with a week left to go in camp, meaning the 2023 Cy Young winner is still looking at late-May or early-June for his season debut in a best-case scenario.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve been and he\u2019s been very disciplined,\u201d Boone said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons I think the rehab process for him has gone well. He\u2019s listened to, obviously, the doctors and all the people that are involved, and he\u2019s crushed the rehab. But I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve rushed anything as we\u2019ve gone either.\u201d<\/p>\n

ROD\u00d3N WON\u2019T GET GAME ACTION<\/p>\n

While the Yankees are looking forward to Cole\u2019s spring debut, Boone said that he doesn\u2019t think Carlos Rod\u00f3n (elbow surgery)<\/a> will get in an exhibition game with a week left in camp. That\u2019s due to the way schedules are lined up, the manager said.<\/p>\n

Rod\u00f3n is slated to throw two innings and 35 pitches in a live batting practice session on Thursday, and Boone still hopes to have him back sometime in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing well,\u201d Boone said. \u201cHe\u2019s not far behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The skipper added that he isn\u2019t sure where Rod\u00f3n and Cole will be when the regular season begins, but options include staying back in Tampa for extended spring or beginning rehab assignments.<\/p>\n

MCMAHON TRUSTED AT SHORT<\/p>\n

While Ryan McMahon is still developing some instincts at shortstop, Boone said he would be comfortable with the infielder playing the position and being a \u201ctrue backup\u201d if the regular season were today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he can handle it,\u201d Boone said with McMahon making another start at short on Tuesday. \u201cHe\u2019s such a natural fielder and arm, and I think he\u2019ll have enough range to hold his own there as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The slick-fielding McMahon is still set to be the Yankees\u2019 primary third baseman. But with the Bombers trusting him at shortstop in an emergency situation, they won\u2019t have to carry a more tested backup for the position on their bench.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, the likeliest configuration for their bench includes catcher J.C. Escarra, outfielder Randal Grichuk, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and utilityman Amed Rosario. The Yankees could have theoretically used first baseman Ben Rice as a backup catcher, swapping out Escarra for an experienced backup shortstop like Oswaldo Cabrera or Max Schuemann, but Rice hasn\u2019t caught in a game this spring.<\/p>\n

Cabrera, returning from an ankle fracture suffered last May, also didn\u2019t start playing in games until recently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. \u2013 Gerrit Cole is ready for game action. Well, exhibition game action, anyway, as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[5,141,48,2542,2281,4,89,2543,80667,5971,142],"class_list":["post-628486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boston-red-sox","tag-baseball","tag-boston","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-bostonredsox","tag-gerrit-cole","tag-mlb","tag-red-sox","tag-redsox","tag-spring-training-elbow","tag-tommy-john","tag-yankees"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116245652304183950","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628486","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=628486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}