NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole walked into the Yankees clubhouse on Friday afternoon wearing a dark brown polo shirt with a matching Tom Ford belt and sharp white dress pants. This was a statement game, and even before suiting up in the Yankees pinstripes, Cole was dressed for the occasion. He was locked in, ready to dominate. The fit was part of the mentality.
Just like the iconic character Proposition Joe said on HBO’s hit show, “The Wire”: “Look the part, be the part.” Cole did just that in his season debut. The Yankees were thrilled to see their longtime ace and the unanimous 2023 Cy Young award winner return to the mound on Friday night in the Bronx against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Cole held the division rivals to only two hits over six scoreless innings. He permitted three walks and struck out two batters, not seeing as much swing-and-miss likely because the Rays have the lowest strikeout rate in the major leagues. He dialed up his four-seam fastball to 99 mph in the first inning, proving his arm was all the way back. He was efficient, throwing just three pitches in the fourth inning. He pounded the strike zone and picked a runner off second base, hyper-alert and quick on his feet for, as Yankees manager Aaron Boone put it, “The game within the game.”
He did all that against a feisty Rays offense that owns the highest batting average and on-base percentage in the American League. Reminding everyone in the ballpark that Cole was making this look easier than it actually was, Boone pulled him after 72 pitches. That was the plan all along. It was just a tease.
“It was almost like a second debut kind of situation,” Cole said, unable to stop grinning. “It was an enjoyable moment. It was nice to get back in the fire.”
Cole was Cole. It was the Yankees offense that let him down in front of 41,358 fans who were living and dying on every pitch. New York’s bats failed to cash in when they created traffic on the basepaths. The Yankees went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base en route to a 4-2 loss to Tampa Bay. It was their third consecutive loss and 10th in their last 14 games.
“With what we’re going through, you hate losing a game,” Boone said. “Hopefully the silver lining is that I felt like the guys had good at-bats tonight and were on stuff. We need to carry that forward now and have the ability to break through.”
The other silver living was how seamlessly Cole picked up where he left off.
It was hard to believe it was his first start in 569 days. Cole agreed, saying: “At some point tonight, it was almost like I never left.” His last start was in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series against the Dodgers; he threw six innings in a no-decision. After spending one year and two months rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, Cole is 35 years old now. Aside from his age and surgically-repaired right elbow, things have changed since the last time Cole pitched.
For one, he debuted his new windup on Friday — a different, over-the-head motion similar to Max Scherzer and other old-school veterans in the game — that he adopted during his extensive rehab process. The right-hander was also sporting a beard for the first time in his seven-year Yankee career. Cole was on the injured list when Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner nixed their 49-year no-facial hair policy last year. So, Friday was the start of a new era in more ways than one for New York’s ace.
For another, Cole’s season debut against the Rays was the first time he pitched under Major League Baseball’s new Automated Balls and Strikes (ABS) system that launched this year.
“My mindset going into it was not to worry about it,” Cole said. “And just assume everything’s a ball.”
Towards the end of his rehab, Cole emphasized throwing in the zone so that he could be better prepared for ABS. It was one of several final boxes he checked off for himself before receiving the green light to wear the pinstripes again. Some of the other variables included his recovery, pitch quality, sequencing, conditioning, and good stamina overall.
“It’s funny, it’s like you almost take an extra day here early, an extra week here early, and then you think, ‘Oh, this is never gonna end,’” Cole said of his rehab progression. “But then you end up showing up right on time. So it’s funny how it works out that way, because it didn’t feel very quick, yet it’s been very efficient and optimal.”
The Yankees actually moved Cole’s season debut up to Friday after initially believing he would need at least one more rehab start before rejoining the team. But after his pitch count reached the 80-plus range and he touched 99 mph in his final rehab outing on May 16, plans changed. Cole told the team that he was ready to take the next step, and the Yankees said welcome back.
“I expected to do well,” Cole said of how he managed the immense Tommy John rehab workload. “I didn’t really hit any significant snags, so you put a lot of hard work in and execute along the way, and this is where it takes you.”
It just so happened that the Yankees also needed Cole to return as quickly as possible after southpaw Max Fried hit the injured list with a bone bruise in his left elbow last week. That was a huge blow to the Yankees rotation, a strong staff that ranked top five in the majors with a 3.22 ERA even before Cole’s return. As much as the Yankees hope Cole’s dominance in his first outing back from Tommy John means their starting pitching won’t miss a step without Fried, the team will also be extremely careful with his build-up in the early goings.
“I feel like that was a smart play,” Cole said of exiting Friday’s season debut after six scoreless innings. “It may seem easy, but it was a high-pressure, tough game.”
Which is why it wasn’t all that surprising that Boone pulled Cole when he was in a groove on Friday night. The packed house at Yankee Stadium was let down when fans saw the bullpen doors swing open in the seventh inning, rather than No. 45 jogging out to the mound for one more frame. But just imagine if Cole’s excellent outing was wasted on another rehab start with Triple-A Scranton? The way the Yankees ace pitched on Friday night, every fifth game is going to be must-see television for the remainder of the season, and if the worst is behind him, for the remainder of his career.
Before his debut, Cole said he was most looking forward to pitching in games that matter again. Asked to describe what it felt like to settle in and once again be the conductor of that intense and competitive environment, Cole had just one word to describe his night.
“Lovely,” he said, smiling ear to ear.
Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
