Yankees hope to get off to a flying start with Gerrit Cole in ALDS Game 1

It isn’t only Aaron Judge who is desperate to add “World Series champion” to an already impressive career resume, one that has him very much on a Hall of Fame track.

Gerrit Cole is in the same boat.

“I've been trying to do that for a long time. That would be great. That would be amazing,” Cole said with a smile Friday afternoon at the Stadium, speaking on the eve of Game 1 of the Yankees' American League Division Series against the Royals. “Yeah, we've got a long way to go, though, so don't bring me there. We've got to take care of Saturday first.”

The pursuit of that elusive championship officially begins Saturday night when Cole faces Kansas City's Michael Wacha. For Judge. For Cole. For a Yankees organization that has known, in some form or the other, nothing but heartbreak and/or frustration in chasing the franchise’s first title since capturing No. 27 in 2009.

The road to merely getting to the  World Series for the first time since 2009 has never looked more promising.

The top-seeded Yankees' long-time October tormentor, the Astros, won’t get a chance to eliminate them for a fifth time in the last decade. Houston fell to Detroit in their Wild Card Series.

And they have Cole, who  seems to have recaptured the form that allowed him to win the 2023 AL Cy Young Award, available to start two of the five ALDS games, if necessary.

“There's no one else we'd want to hand the ball to,” Aaron Boone said. “He's battle-tested. He's pitched in a ton of big games in his career, obviously. He's our ace. He's been through a lot this year and working his way back from injury really for the first time in his career, and he's worked his tail off to get to [this] point.”

Cole, who didn't make his first appearance until June 19 because of elbow inflammation, went  8-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts. He was particularly sharp in his last two outings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks in 15 2/3 innings in which he struck out 12.

Cole was on the injured list when the Yankees played the Royals from June 10-13 and his rotation turn did not match up with them during their series at the Stadium from Sept. 9-11.

“We missed him both times we played him,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “But I've seen plenty of him over the years to know that he's a unicorn in this game. He's a closer that can do it for nine innings. He locates, he's got plus pitches on every front, he can pitch to righties and lefties. He's super-competitive. He seems to be built for the big stage and really embraced that.”

Cole, 153-80 with a 3.18 ERA in his 12-year career, is 10-6 with a 2.93 ERA in 17  postseason starts.

“It's just like any baseball tournament that you get excited for as a 12-year-old,” Cole said of the postseason. “It's like, OK, we get to go try to win something that's really important. It's obviously just higher stakes, higher leverage. At 3-0, you can't assume anybody is taking. In the middle of May, you might assume somebody is taking a 3-0 pitch. You don't necessarily assume that in these situations regardless of the score. Momentum can change on any pitch. It's super-exciting.”

Wacha, who beat Cole’s Pittsburgh Pirates — though not Cole — in his playoff debut while with the Cardinals in Game 4 of the 2013 NLDS as a 21-year-old, on Friday called Cole “an absolute stud.”

“Year in and year out, he's throwing up really good numbers, a lot of punch-outs, low ERAs and throwing up a lot of innings,” Wacha said. “That's what you try to be as a starting pitcher is consistent, and you want to give the team something that they can count on going out there. And he's been a staple of that over the past 10, 12 years now.”

No Rizzo for ALDS. First baseman Anthony Rizzo, who suffered two broken fingers on his right hand last weekend after getting hit by a pitch, will not be available for this series. “I feel like gutting through it, I wouldn’t be able to be my best version, defensively or offensively,” Rizzo said after working out with the team Friday. “I had to be honest with myself. It’s tough.” Rizzo “hopes” he can play in the ALCS if the Yankees advance.