Yankees' Gerrit Cole injury news is huge blow to organization and inside clubhouse

TAMPA, Fla. — Carlos Rodon, among those who will be called upon to make up for the irreplaceable loss that is Gerrit Cole in the Yankees' rotation, knows what his friend and locker mate in the Steinbrenner Field clubhouse is going through.

“It can be daunting, especially for a guy that has such a tremendous track record of durability and health,” Rodon said Tuesday before the Yankees’ 6-2 loss to the Orioles in a split-squad game.

Rodon, the 32-year-old lefthander, underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2019.

Cole, whose right elbow acted up after his start last Thursday against the Twins, underwent the surgery in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

“Emotionally, there’s a weight there because you’re away from something you love to do,” Rodon said.

The general time frame given for pitchers having the surgery is 12-18 months, but many pitchers who have had the surgery talk about needing about two years before they feel right again.

“Yeah, I would have to agree with that,” Rodon said. “That’s a good assessment. I feel like it varies for guys. For me it was ’21 before I felt like I was completely normal.”

Though the Monday night announcement that Cole would need the surgery didn’t catch anyone off guard — especially after the pitcher said he was “concerned” after undergoing an MRI on Friday — the news still delivered a sizeable blow to the organization, including inside the clubhouse.

“I mean, it’s Gerrit Cole,” Rodon said. “The track record . . . we’re talking about a Hall of Fame arm. It’s one of those things, it really sucks. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt, especially a good friend of mine. It’s one of those things where we have to just move on as a team. I’m not saying that in any way that’s malicious or anything, it’s just one of those things as a team it’s terrible. It’s our best arm we have, but all of us have to step up and we have to carry our weight and throw innings. That’s it.”

General manager Brian Cashman, who on Sunday said he was preparing for “the worst” when it came to Cole, noted the other blows his team’s rotation depth has taken this spring. Last year’s AL Rookie of the Year, Luis Gil, will be out three months minimum with a high-grade lat strain, and two unproven pitchers at this level, JT Brubaker (three broken ribs) and prospect Chase Hampton (Tommy John), both of whom might have provided depth this season, are on the injured list (Hampton, of course, is out for the year).

“We’ve taken a number of hits,” Cashman said. “We can’t afford too many more.”

Cashman said he’ll “explore what’s on the marketplace,” to try and add depth but cautioned “very little is available” at this time of year so for the time being, “we’ll rely on what we have here.”

Clarke Schmidt, who like Rodon also lockers near Cole and who allowed three runs and four hits over 1 2/3 innings in which he struck out four in his spring debut Tuesday, knew he was stating the obvious when it came to losing Cole, the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner.

“There’s not a lot of Gerrit Cole-type pitchers in MLB,” said Schmidt, the club’s first-round pick in June 2017 who underwent Tommy John surgery in April of that year while at the University of South Carolina. “Very unfortunate, but there’s a lot of innings on that arm. It’s kind of hard to avoid, especially with the way the game is now.”

The latter is a reference to the ongoing chase for velocity, making the hard-throwing Cole’s durability, up until last season, all the more remarkable. Before missing 2 ½ months last season with right elbow inflammation, Cole had surpassed 200 innings in five of his previous six full seasons, including an MLB-leading 209 innings in ‘23.

“He’s the case of durability,” Rodon said. “He’s the guy that throws every freakin’ game. Just one of those things. It sounds bad, but it seems like it’s inevitable for any pitcher that you’re going to get Tommy John eventually whether it’s at 34 or 15. It’s just the nature of the beast.”

With the season to come, regardless.

“That’s major-league sports,” Aaron Boone said. “Unfortunately, it’s part of the game. There’s no sugarcoating what Gerrit means to our team . . . it’s a big loss, but it’s also a big opportunity for someone. We’ll get through it.”