{"id":676834,"date":"2026-04-16T09:46:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T09:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/676834\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T09:46:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T09:46:28","slug":"gerrit-cole-to-begin-rehab-assignment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/676834\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerrit Cole To Begin Rehab Assignment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gerrit Cole<\/a> is taking a significant step in his return from Tommy John surgery. The two-time ERA champ will kick off a rehab assignment at Double-A Somerset on Friday, skipper Aaron Boone tells reporters (including Jorge Castillo of ESPN<\/a>).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not quite Cole\u2019s first game action. He was able to get on a mound for a pair of brief starts at the end of Spring Training. Cole has spent the past couple weeks throwing bullpen and live batting practice sessions. Friday\u2019s start will be his first regular season game since 2024. His elbow gave out the following spring, and he went under the knife in March \u201925.<\/p>\n

Minor league rehab assignments for pitchers generally last up to 30 days. The league frequently grants extensions in 10-day increments for those coming back from Tommy John procedures. Cole is probably still a month-plus away from big league readiness.<\/p>\n

Max Fried<\/a>,\u00a0Cam Schlittler<\/a>,\u00a0Will Warren<\/a>,\u00a0Ryan Weathers<\/a> and\u00a0Luis Gil<\/a> comprise the season-opening rotation. The top three have pitched very well in their first four turns. Weathers has been inconsistent and has only once worked beyond five innings, but he\u2019s getting a lot of strikeouts behind the plus stuff that made him an offseason trade target. Gil was the odd man out to begin the season when the Yankees had enough days off to get by with four starters. He has given up four home runs over his first nine innings.<\/p>\n

Carlos Rod\u00f3n<\/a> has yet to begin a rehab assignment but may return before Cole does. Rod\u00f3n, recovering from a postseason procedure to remove loose bodies from his elbow, is throwing live batting practice sessions. The rotation would run at least six deep if everyone\u2019s healthy. There are a few weeks for injuries and\/or performance to change that picture before Cole and Rod\u00f3n are back in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

Cole will join shortstop\u00a0Anthony Volpe<\/a> at Somerset. The infielder began a rehab stint there on Tuesday. Volpe took two at-bats (both strikeouts against the also rehabbing\u00a0Zack Wheeler<\/a>) and played five innings at shortstop in his first game. They gave him a rest day tonight. Volpe is rehabbing from October shoulder surgery and can spend up to 20 days on a rehab stint.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Caballero<\/a> has gotten everyday shortstop work with Volpe out of action. Although Caballero hit a walk-off two-run double to beat the Angels tonight, he\u2019s batting .169\/.222\/.288 on the season overall. He\u2019ll slide into a utility role once Volpe is activated. Backup catcher J.C. Escarra<\/a> is their only player on the bench with minor league options, meaning someone is likely to be designated for assignment once Volpe returns. Minor league signee\u00a0Randal Grichuk<\/a> has started the season 1-16 in a short side platoon role as the final player on the bench.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gerrit Cole is taking a significant step in his return from Tommy John surgery. The two-time ERA champ…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2290],"tags":[1205,5,2281],"class_list":{"0":"post-676834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-anthony-volpe","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-gerrit-cole"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116413750979147603","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676834","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=676834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}