Yankees' Gerrit Cole 'feeling good' after throwing off bullpen mound
New York Yankees Gerrit Cole looks on in the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium, Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Bronx. Credit: Corey Sipkin
Gerrit Cole threw 15 fastballs off the bullpen mound at Yankee Stadium on Saturday morning.
Normally a routine of that intensity — can we even call it a workload? — would elicit little notice from a reigning American League Cy Young Award winner. But this was Cole’s first time tossing from that perch since elbow inflammation sidelined him in spring training, so it warranted some rousing commentary from the pitcher himself.
“It’s an exciting day,” Cole said, with all apparent sincerity, after the brief session. “I’m feeling good about it.”
He’s still a long way from returning to the actual mound . . . and actual excitement. Cole declined to give a timeline for that. When pressed on where he is, with zero being unable to lift his arm and 10 being ready to start an actual game, Cole, after a long delay, calculated that he is “under five somewhere.” So not even halfway back.
“You certainly know what Gerrit brings to the table hopefully at some point this summer,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of allowing himself to start contemplating the return. “But right now it’s about Gerrit doing what he needs to do to get back and get right and get healthy.”
Cole, who has been throwing off flat surfaces since late last month, said the baseball felt good coming out of his hand and added that there was no discomfort. He would not say where his rehab program will go next.
“We’ll see where it comes back the next couple of days and we’ll see where we progress from there in terms of the mound work,” he said.
Boone added, "I think everyone in this room understands Gerrit, who he is, how much he loves what he does, and obviously how good he is at it. [This is] just the process of getting back and another step along the way in getting him back. I’m glad we were able to get to this point today. Onward and upward.”
The one thing Cole was definitive about is how much he has missed pitching and how much even Saturday’s snippet of a workout meant to him.
“I enjoyed today,” he said. “This is the most taste I have had of it in a while. I definitely miss it. It was a good step.”
Notes & quotes: Third baseman Jon Berti (adductor strain) was reinstated from the injured list on Saturday after a rehab game with Double-A Somerset on Thursday. Outfielder Taylor Trammell was designated for assignment as the corresponding roster move.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
