The New York Yankees will soon have an ace back in their starting rotation.
It can be argued that they already have an ace in Max Fried. But the recent Gerrit Cole news is a positive update for the Yankees.
Cole will make his first minor league rehab start on Friday with Double-A Somerset. He will face the Philadelphia Phillies Double-A affiliate as he works his way back from Tommy John Surgery.
MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports that Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Cole will throw approximately 40 pitches on Friday.
“It’s one step at a time,” Boone told Hoch. “We’re looking forward to him starting on Friday, and then we’ll build him from there. Even when he gets back to us [in the Majors], we’ll probably be conservative with him.”
Conservative is the keyword from Boone. Yankees fans cannot expect Cole, who’s expected back around late May to early June, to be the same pitcher he was before the surgery. At least not for a while.
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Cole made two outings in spring training, throwing one inning against the Boston Red Sox on March 18 and 1.2 innings on March 24 against the Cubs.
His teammate, Carlos Rodon, is also nearing a return from an offseason procedure to remove loose bodies and shave a bone spur from his throwing elbow.