With the New York Yankees in his first season, Gerrit Cole will start the campaign to achieve his first-ever World Series ring. He will do it with a team effort, but for Cole, it’s a personal standard of achievement that has been absent from his outstanding seven-year career. Previous to the Yankees acquiring Cole seven months ago, he was a Pittsburgh Pirate for five years and a Houston Astro for two years.
Last night at Yankee Stadium, Gerrit Cole had his third and last intrasquad pitching assignment of summer camp. He also pitched in four spring training games before the season was shut down by the coronavirus. After seven months, this coming Thursday in the Nation’s capital the New York Yankees fans will finally get to see Gerrit Cole, the multimillion-dollar man pitch for the Yankees in a game that counts. Cole is expected to face the World Champion Washington National’s ace Max Scherzer.
So far, the New York Yankee front office, manager Aaron Boone and other Yankees players have been very happy with his offseason preparation and his pitching in all of his pre-season games. They love his work ethic and psyche. He seems to please at every turn, and now he will get to do it in a real baseball game in this coronavirus ravaged baseball season.
The COVID-19 virus has had a dramatic effect on this 2020 baseball season. With all the twists and turns, Cole should already have ten or more pitching starts under his belt. But Cole knows much of this shortened season will be dependant on the virus. After last night’s six innings and 87 pitches with strange crowd noise in the background that sounded like a cross between a creaky door and peculiar animal sounds, Cole had this to say.
“Nothings guaranteed in 2020 so I’ll take it one day at a time, hopefully we get there because we’ve put a lot of hard work in. … I’m excited to start my career here as well.â€
“It’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna have fake crowd noise. It’s gonna be 2020 coronavirus baseball,†Cole said, laughing. “But I’ll get to put the road jersey on for the first time. ‘New York’ across the chest. So [I’m] stoked about that. Stoked about playing in some high-stakes games with the boys. It’s been a while since we’ve been out there to do that.“So [I’m] generally excited. Looking forward to it. And we’ll start the preparation to try to get a W in the next 24, 48 hours.â€
However, before that opening day game, the New York Yankee fans will have their chance to watch the Yankees play other teams for the first time during summer camp. Tonight they will visit the Queens and Citi Field in a game against the crosstown rival New York Mets. The New York Yankees Michael King will face the new Mets pitcher Rick Porcello in a televised game on the YES Network at 7 pm. Tomorrow the Mets take the subway to Yankees Stadium for a night game, followed by the Phillies playing the Yankees on Monday night.