TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees will begin the regular season without Gerrit Cole, but considering the alternative, the ace and his injured right elbow are moving forward with the best-possible outcome.
After visiting with Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles on Thursday, Cole was told that he can avoid Tommy John surgery, treating his elbow with rest, rehab and non-surgical treatments.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post was first to report the update on Cole’s visit with ElAttrache Thursday night, reiterating that Cole is now expected to miss approximately one-to-two months.
This confirms what NJ Advance Media’s Bob Klapisch reported in a column on Thursday morning. Klapisch noted that Cole’s visit with Yankees doctors indicated that the right-hander wouldn’t need Tommy John surgery — at least not right now — opting for a shutdown and PRP injections before restarting a spring training-like ramp-up.
If Cole needed Tommy John surgery, he would’ve missed the entire 2024 season and most of the following campaign as well. Now, if all goes well and according to plan, the Yankees can prepare to welcome the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner back into their rotation this summer, perhaps earlier.
That’s tremendous news for the Yankees as they enter a pivotal season. The window to win with Cole and Judge is already limited — with an 82-80 performance in the rearview mirror — but the Yankees are looking to make the most of Juan Soto’s first (and possibly only) season in pinstripes this year.
Cole hasn’t missed time due to any sort of pitching-related injury since 2016 with the Pirates. At that point, he had elbow inflammation and made just 21 starts. Since then, other than a hamstring injury and a trip to the COVID-19 IL in 2021, he’s been indestructible, as durable and dependable as any arm in baseball.
In his absence, the Yankees will need the rest of their starting staff to step up. It’s on Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman, Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt to…
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