New York Yankees Legend Makes Honest Gerrit Cole Statement

Getty

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 12: Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees looks on from the dugout after he was removed from a game against the New York Mets during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium on September 12, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

On Thursday, the New York Yankees are off following a three-game series with the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.

They won two out of three games in the series, but most recently lost by a score of 5-4 on Wednesday afternoon.

Yankees Legend Makes Gerrit Cole Statement

GettyDavid Cone formally of the New York Yankees gets interviewed during pregame before the Tampa Bay Rays play against the New York Yankees on September 27, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida.

While the Yankees are in the middle of a very strong 2026 season (and recently clinched a spot in the playoffs), Gerrit Cole has been struggling.

The former Cy Young Award winner has let up nine earned runs over his last two starts.

In a recent interview (via The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman), Yankees legend David Cone was asked about Cole (h/t New York Post Sports).

Heyman: “And really, what’s going on with Cole? Who’s arguably the best pitcher over the last decade?”

Cone: “Gerrit Cole, I think there’s a couple of things going on here. Post-Tommy John, obviously, it’s a mixed bag. You don’t know what to expect. I think he’s been much better than we thought he would be at this point. The problems over the last two starts are keeping the ball in the ballpark. The home runs are a problem. I think it’s down to the secondary pitches, his slider and curveball. It’s hard to be a four-pitch pitcher all the time. Sometimes you need to be a two-pitch pitcher when you’re struggling. The wheels are spinning when he does get two strikes or when he does get in a position where he needs to throw a slider or a curveball, a knuckle-curve or a changeup. He’s kind of caught in between on which pitch to use to which batter. And for me, the knuckle-curve should be to left-handed batters and the slider should be to right-handed batters. And the quality of those pitches are what protect your fastball. It’s sort of like you go to The Sopranos. You go to protection mode. You need some protection for that fastball. And his last start, there was a lot of hard contact, a lot of 100-mile-an-hour type exit velocities off of his fastball.”