BOSTON — Gerrit Cole spent Friday night racking up whiffs in Rochester.
The next time he takes the mound could be in The Bronx.
In his third rehab start since coming back from elbow nerve inflammation, Cole struck out 10 across 4 1/3 innings while allowing just two hits and one unearned run for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Cole built his pitch count up to 70, generated 22 swings-and-misses and averaged 94.6 mph on his four-seam fastball while topping out at 97.8 mph.
“That’s pretty good,” said manager Aaron Boone, who watched the first two innings of Cole’s start during a rain delay at Fenway Park. “We’ll see what we have [Saturday]. But glad he got through it and obviously performed well.”
Before Friday’s outing, manager Aaron Boone was noncommittal on whether it would be Cole’s last before being activated off the 60-day injured list for his season debut.
”We’ll see,” Boone said before the Yankees opened their series with an 8-1 win against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. “Let’s get through it and then we’ll sit down and see where we’re at, if we think we need another one or that’s it. I don’t know yet.”
Gerrit Cole had another strong rehab start for the Yankees.AP
Throughout Cole’s rehab assignment, Boone has left the door open for Cole to finish his buildup in the big leagues instead of needing to throw 85-90 pitches before returning (though would likely have 80-85 pitches at his disposal his next time out).
Boone has also said that in Cole’s first start with the Yankees, he could take a step back in his pitch count since the adrenaline will be higher than anything he faced in the minors.
If the Yankees deem Cole ready to return, the reigning AL Cy Young winner would be in line to make his 2024 debut on Wednesday or Thursday against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium.
But Cole will likely have a major say in determining whether he is ready to come back for his next start.
Gerrit Cole has now thrown three rehab starts.Bill Kostroun/New York Post
”You want to see him get to a threshold tonight, see how he’s carrying his stuff,” Boone said before Cole’s outing. “It’s obviously going to be a different adrenaline level being there than when he first comes back with us. But making sure he gets through that, making sure he bounces back — what’s [Saturday] look like when he wakes up and gets moving. Those’ll be things we all talk through over the next 24-48 hours.”
Whenever he is ready, Cole is expected to take the rotation spot of Cody Poteet, who has filled in nicely for the injured Clarke Schmidt.
Source : nypost.com
