Yankees' Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery on Tuesday

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is taken out of the game in the fourth inning of their spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida. February 28, 2025. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
TAMPA, Fla. — Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on Sunday that he was “prepared for the worst” when it came to Gerrit Cole and his ailing right elbow.
The worst arrived a day later.
The Yankees announced early Monday night that Cole, who met earlier in the day with orthopedic specialist Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, will undergo Tommy John surgery on Tuesday that will wipe out the ace righthander’s entire 2025 season and much, if not all, of his 2026 season.
It was a blow the organization had been bracing for since Cole’s MRI on Friday after what the pitcher described as an “alarming” feeling in his right elbow that morning.
Cole faced the Twins on Thursday and, though unhappy with his command that afternoon, spoke of being pleased with his velocity in the 54-pitch outing, which peaked at 97.6 mph.
On Thursday night, however, Cole felt rapidly increasing soreness in the elbow and had difficulty sleeping as a result of the discomfort.
He woke up Friday morning knowing, in his words, “something wasn’t right.”
An MRI followed on Friday. Speaking to reporters early Saturday morning, a downcast Cole, in possession of those test results though not ready to disclose them because he wanted to talk to additional doctors, bluntly stated: “I’m concerned.”
He headed to the West Coast to meet with ElAttrache, who examined Cole last March when the elbow flared up. This time the recommendation was surgery, which will be performed by ElAttrache.
Cole’s elbow acted up around this time last year, and the inflammation found in it sidelined him for the first 2½ months of the 2024 season.
Before last season, Cole had been among the most durable pitchers in the game, long a point of pride for the 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner. Before 2024, he had surpassed 200 innings in five of his previous six full seasons, including an MLB-leading 209 innings in 2023.
The Yankees, still actively in the market for a righthanded hitter as well as an upgrade at third base, suddenly find themselves exploring starting pitching options, too.
Their rotation took a significant hit less than two weeks ago when reigning American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil pulled himself from a bullpen session after a handful of pitches and later was diagnosed with a high-grade lat strain that will cost him at least three months and likely more.
Gil coincidentally got his opportunity in 2024 when Cole started the season on the injured list.
The Yankees were fortunate to have righthander Marcus Stroman — 87-85 with a 3.72 ERA in his career — to drop into Gil’s spot. Now the task is taller in having to replace Cole, and without a great deal of organizational depth to do so.
Righthander Will Warren, one of the club’s top pitching prospects, struggled in his brief time in the majors last season but has impressed the Yankees and rival scouts alike this spring training.
Warren allowed one earned run in 3 2⁄3 innings in the Yankees’ 10-2 exhibition win over the Tigers on Monday. He is 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA, an 0.60 WHIP and 12 strikeouts in 11 2⁄3 innings in the Grapefruit League.
“He’s throwing the [expletive] out of the ball,” one AL scout said Monday.
The more likely move to start the season will be inserting righthander Carlos Carrasco into the rotation. Carrasco, who will turn 38 on March 21 and is not on the 40-man roster, has a big-league out clause in his contract toward month’s end and almost assuredly would be scooped up by another pitching-needy team (the out allows him to go to any team that guarantees him a spot on the major-league roster).
The Yankees also are likely to find a way to fit another non-roster invitee, Allan Winans, on their 40-man for rotation depth to store in the minors.
If the Yankees wanted to go the blockbuster route on the trade front, power righthander Sandy Alcantara could be had from the always-open-for-business Marlins, though it would cost the Yankees some big names (think along the lines of top prospects such as Jasson Dominguez, Spencer Jones or George Lombard Jr.).
Arizona will listen on lefthander Jordan Montgomery, dealt by the Yankees — who drafted and developed the pitcher — in 2022, a move that did not go over well in the clubhouse as he was immensely popular among his teammates.
Among the starting pitchers still available in free agency are righties Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.
Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner has more or less put a freeze on adding to this year’s payroll, already expected to be well over $300 million, but the Cole news could change that.
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