The New York Yankees are in an envious position right now. On one hand, they’re overwhelmingly good (currently atop the league with a 43-19 record). But then, on the other hand, they’re doing all of this without their ace Gerrit Cole. However, that isn’t what makes their position envious – the fact that Cole is building up quickly makes things exciting around the Bronx clubhouse.  

The 2023 Cy Young winner has been out since Spring Training due to elbow issues. Now, months later, Cole is back in the ballpark. Though, in his absence, the Yankees performed well (Cole deserves credit too, after all, he almost became a pitching coach for his teammates), the star had been itching to step on the mound again. And now that he has for the Double-A Somerset – the star showed that he hasn’t lost his Midas touch. That left the Pinstripes’ skipper completely enamored.

“I thought he looked really sharp, just as far as command of the fastball and getting it to where he wanted to get the swing and a miss,” Aaron Boone said. “The 15-20 pitches that I saw looked like Gerrit looked sharp so another encouraging step.” Cole had pitched 3 ⅓ scoreless innings with 45 pitches (34 of them being strikes). This was a highly encouraging performance with his velocity topping out at 97 mph. Still, Boone maintained a slight caution regarding Cole’s workload.

The Yankees skipper noted that the team would tackle Gerrit Cole’s workload issues carefully. “That’s something we’ll work through as we go,” Boone said per New York Post. “When do we want to take him? How many pitches do we want him built up to? Those will all be factored in and we’ll work with Gerrit through that, as well.”

However, as for Cole – the star looked extremely pleased with his progress. Despite being out for months, he remained as sharp as ever, and that proved to be a big boost to his confidence.

An encouraging start shortens Gerrit Cole’s path to the New York Yankees

There was a surge of adrenaline within Gerrit Cole during his first start in months. Still, the superstar dealt with it with aplomb and threw all of his pitches. In the end, he allowed two singles, had zero walks, and struck out 5 batters. So when asked whether he was close to a Major League return, Cole gave a highly positive answer.

“Certainly, if you give a number scale of where I was six weeks ago, I’d say I’m definitely close. I’m not sure how many more we’ll need, but definitely closer rather than farther away,” Cole said. That should sound like music to the Yankees’ fans’ ears. Even though the Bronx Bombers’ pitching staff has been excelling, having a fit Gerrit Cole in the lineup will always be welcome. Certainly, it’ll give an even bigger boost to their campaign.