Entering the Subway Series, the New York Yankees’ magic number was down to two. Expecting to clinch a postseason berth this weekend, manager Aaron Boone sent Gerrit Cole to the mound on Saturday, but he imploded for the second consecutive start. Now, the Yankees must wait at least until Sunday to secure their playoff spot. Following the 12-2 blowout loss to the New York Mets, Cole addressed his struggles and what he must do to regain his rhythm.
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“Yeah, I’m healthy; I’ll figure it out,” Cole told the reporters, per SNY Yankees on X. “It’s not easy. It’s a tough game, man. You’ve got to make hard adjustments. That’s why it’s the big leagues.”
Cole returned to the Yankees’ rotation this year after missing the entire 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery. The starting pitcher has not pitched a full season since 2023, recording only 17 starts in 2024. But he does not believe his arm is showing signs of fatigue.
The veteran starter is under a nine-year, $324 million deal with the Yankees that runs through 2028. He has enjoyed a decent season so far, posting a 3.67 ERA across 20 outings. But the long ball has been getting to him for the last two starts, having surrendered seven homers in total.
The San Diego Padres literally pounded Cole left, right, and center as he allowed three consecutive homers to Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth, and Manny Machado. While Cole was otherwise stable, he could not prevent the long balls as Luis Campusano recorded a solo homer against him. Manager Aaron Boone pointed to “missed spots” after the game, but it appears Cole has yet to make those adjustments.
“I think it’s something that we got to figure out for sure,” Cole said about homers that keep hurting him, per YES Network. “It’s just one of those times in the season when I think you’ve got to start making adjustments. Sometimes adjustments are hard, but that’s the demand of the game. So you’ve got to find a way to get through it and get forward.”
On Saturday, Cole struggled to find his footing against the Mets from the start. He gave up a leadoff homer to Francisco Lindor in the first inning. Then, allowed two more to Luis Torrens and Carson Benge. He gave up 9 hits in total while fanning 4. The RHP struggled with swings and misses and currently holds his lowest WHIFF rate (22.3%) since 2016. Cole issued no walks and was pulled early after 4.1 innings.
Though Cole continued to get hurt from homers on Saturday as well, it was different than his last start, per manager Boone.
“I think this was a little different from San Diego, where he ends up pitching really well… the changeup didn’t get where you wanted. It didn’t have the fade on it and Lindor is able to ride it out,” Boone said postgame, per YES Network.
“I thought not a terrible pitch to Torrens; after some secondary, he gets to an up-and-in heater that he’s able to ride out of there. The Benge homer looked like a slider, middle-middle. It looked like the strike throwing was there; the stuff looked okay, but just not getting it to places he needed to get to, and they made it pay for it today. They didn’t miss. That was a little bit of it too.”
With only 14 regular-season games remaining, Cole will probably make two more starts for the Yankees. The club might use him as the Game 1 starter in the Wild Card Series, but for that, Cole needs to figure out his stuff first.