The New York Yankees have an injured pitching staff. Clarke Schmidt underwent Tommy John last summer, while Carlos Rodón had bone spurs removed from his elbow over the winter. The biggest injury, though, was when the Yankees lost Gerrit Cole for the year in 2025. He received Tommy John surgery a little over 11 months ago, and his road back has been a slow build. But Cole recently made a huge stride in his injury recovery process.
First reported by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, Cole threw a live bp session on Friday afternoon. The three batters he faced were Aaron Judge, Jasson Domínguez, and Trent Grisham. The best part is that Cole was sitting around 95-96 mph during his inning of work. In 2024, his average fastball was 95.9 mph. So the right-hander is already back to his normal velocity.
Gerrit Cole’s Injury Return Timeline
GettyGerrit Cole’s injury return timeline has never changed.
Cole throwing an inning of live BP on Friday is a massive step forward. But there are still a lot of hurdles for him to jump through moving forward.
It is important to note that this live BP session did not feature a lot of pitches, and he faced just three batters. As a starting pitcher, Cole will obviously have to work to get his pitch count much higher. That could take more than a few weeks.
Building that pitch count will be the next hurdle. Pairing that with making sure Cole stays pain and fatigue-free throughout the process will be crucial. However, Hoch mentions that Cole could pitch a few game innings towards the end of spring training.
Still, Cole’s return timeline has never changed. It was always 14-18 months. New York expects him back towards the end of May or beginning of June, which would be 14 months.
Yankees Expected Rotation on Opening Day
GettyMax Fried will once again be the ace of the staff in New York.
Cole will not be ready by opening day. Rodón is also going to miss opening day, while Schmidt will miss most, if not all, of 2026. That leaves three rotation spots open for opening day.
One of those spots was filled by Ryan Weathers. Weathers looked great in his live BP session, and he has the potential to be the team’s No. 3 starting pitcher this season. Will Warren and Luis Gil are also expected to be in the rotation to start the year.
One of those three pitchers will be bumped from the rotation when Rodón returns. Another will have to make way for Cole when he is fully ready to come back. Now, a six-man rotation is not out of the ordinary, but it seems unlikely that New York will opt to go that route.
Max Fried and Cam Schlittler are the two pitchers who always had a spot in the rotation. Fried is most likely going to be the opening day starter on March 25 in San Francisco. That is opening night for the MLB, and the Yankees and San Francisco Giants will play the first MLB game on Netflix.
Yankees’ Gerrit Cole Makes Massive Stride in Rehab Process