TAMPA — At least for the first two months of the season, the Yankees will sorely miss handing the ball to Gerrit Cole every five days.
But even when Cole was an active pitcher for the club, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner also made his impact felt during those four days between starts as an extra pitching coach, sounding board and baseball spirit for the rest of the rotation. .
In that regard, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Cole took that responsibility to another level as he attempts to recover from nerve inflammation and elbow swelling.
Gerrit Cole will be out for at least the first two months of the Yankees season. Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
“I’ll do everything I can to try to contribute to us winning a game,” Cole said Saturday morning at Steinbrenner Field.
Cole will take at least the first road trip of the season with the team – four games against the Astros and three against the Diamondbacks – while renovations to the Yankee Stadium facility are still underway.
Beyond that, Cole wasn’t yet sure of his schedule — he might be about to start pitching in the Yankees’ home opener — but whether he travels with the team or not, he will almost certainly continue to help. the rest of the pitching staff.
“Gerrit is always looking to contribute in any way he can, whether it’s on the field or in the throwing schemes with the guys,” pitching coach Matt Blake said.
“But especially right now, even though he can’t be on the field, I think he’ll be the voice of reason for a lot of these guys. How we look at the other team, what they do with their stuff. So I think it’s probably going to go up a little bit while he’s here and looking for things to do.
That said, Cole remains very busy while immersing himself in an unfamiliar process: rehabilitation.
This is uncharted territory for him, having never been on the injured list with an arm problem before, but he is said to approach it with all the energy he would with anything others under the aegis of perfecting one’s profession.
Cole is in the middle of a three- to four-week throwing hiatus, but he’s keeping his arm “alive” by performing plyometrics and arm movements so he’s not completely starting from scratch when he starts throwing again .
Cole undergoes a four-week layoff from throwing, where he does plyometrics and arm movements to keep his arm active. P.A.
But he will also continue to find time to keep an eye on his fellow pitchers.
“I think he’s going to have good balance, because he’s really focused on his recovery right now, I can tell,” Clarke Schmidt said. “He’s super focused on that. So I think that’s going to get a lot of his attention, but Gerrit will always be Gerrit. So I think he’s going to be just as involved, if not more.
Cole is known to attend his teammates’ bullpen sessions, and he will also be among the first to debrief their outings with them.
“It’s like you go out, you go to your locker and he’s sitting right next to you as you take your clothes off,” Schmidt said with a laugh.
Cole’s absence on the mound has created a battle for the fifth starting job, which will likely go to Luis Gil or Will Warren.
Cole praised Gil’s fastball and the progress of Warren, still only 24 years old, emphasizing how well he can handle the information that comes his way.
Gil pitched the first four innings of the win over the Mets on Friday. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
As for the state of the rotation in the final days of camp, Cole highlighted how effective the rest of the starters’ approaches have been, plugging in and making necessary adjustments during a “pretty uneventful” spring.
Sure, Cole’s injury was the big break in the Yankees’ rotation, but they’ll still benefit from his presence while he’s gone.
“With Gerrit behind us, Gerrit always helps us,” Marcus Stroman said. “That’s what people don’t realize – Gerrit is so in tune with all of us and always talks to us analytically, pitch-wise, grip-wise, mechanically, he just helps us connect. I know he will be away, but I know how much he will listen to and help us all while he is away.
2024-03-24 00:26:55
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