The Yankees will not be replacing one ace with another, at least not yet.
The final steps of Gerrit Cole’s comeback from Tommy John surgery will not be accelerated by Max Fried landing on the injured list with a left elbow bone bruise, manager Aaron Boone said Friday, meaning the Yankees will likely go two turns in the rotation without either one in it.
As of Friday, the plan was for Cole to make two more rehab starts — the next one coming Saturday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — before he could rejoin the Yankees by the end of the month.
“The likelihood is two more with him and then we’ll be in position to roll,” Boone said before the Subway Series opener at Citi Field. “Don’t want to take him off track for a short-term need. When he’s ready, then he’ll insert in.”
Cole will likely build up to 80-plus pitches Saturday and then repeat that threshold in what would be his seventh and potentially final rehab start.
Saturday marks the 30th day of his rehab assignment, typically the maximum allowed for pitchers, though they can be extended (with the player’s approval) if they are coming back from Tommy John surgery.
All along, Cole has been on board with taking his time in his rehab process, sticking to a 14- to 18-month timeline for a return — with last Monday marking 14 months since surgery.
“Just wanting to build him correctly and safely,” Boone said. “Just want to get him to a threshold to where he’s in a good spot. … Just want to be disciplined to coming off of a serious injury where he missed a lot of time. Want that build to be a steady one and one that puts him in the best position to come back and have a lot of success up here.”
The likely fill-in between Fried and Cole is Elmer Rodríguez, who had replaced Luis Gil in the rotation for two starts before Carlos Rodón returned from the IL last weekend.
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Entering Friday, Cody Bellinger had some drastic home/road splits — batting .377 with a 1.259 OPS in 19 games at Yankee Stadium and .188 with a .516 OPS in 24 road games.
“I think part of it is he is cut out for our ballpark,” Boone said. “One of the reasons we went and got him was we feel like he’s set up for Yankee Stadium. But that said, I would expect these things to balance itself out a little bit with how good a player Belli is.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
