Look, I know the vibe in the Bronx is usually one of impatient dread when the injury report starts filling up before the first Grapefruit League pitch. But if you are staring at the Yankees’ 2026 pitching outlook and seeing a crisis, you aren’t looking hard enough at the radar gun. This rotation is a jigsaw puzzle where the most expensive piece is finally sliding back into place, and he’s doing it with a lot more fire than the doctors predicted.
The Ace is Ahead of Schedule
Gerrit Cole threw a bullpen session in Tampa this past Friday that should have every hitter in the American League East checking their insurance policies. After missing the entire 2025 season following Tommy John surgery last March, the conventional wisdom had him pegged for a late May or June return. That timeline is officially in the trash. Cole was sitting at 94 mph on the gun during his session, and some on the ground think he was actually touching higher than that.
Think about those numbers for a second. During his 2023 Cy Young run, he averaged 96.7 mph. By 2024, a year where he was clearly gutting through discomfort and actually missed the first couple of months, he still managed a 3.41 ERA while sitting at 95.9 mph. To be within a tick or two of his “healthy” velocity this early in the spring is nothing short of a miracle of modern medicine. There is legitimate chatter now about him getting into actual spring games before camp breaks. If he’s pitching in March, he’s starting in April.
Depth as a Weapon
We need to stop acting like the sky is falling because Cam Schlittler has a cranky back. The kid is 25 years old and coming off a rookie season where he posted a 2.96 ERA and struck out 84 guys in 73 innings. He says his concern level is zero, and the Yankees are just being smart by keeping him off the mound for a week. He’s a crucial bridge for this staff, especially with Clarke Schmidt serving as a second-half reinforcement following his own UCL repair.
The Yankees actually have the luxury of patience because they backed up the Brinks truck for Max Fried last winter. Fried stepped into the vacuum left by Cole in 2025 and proved he’s a legitimate frontline monster, earning every cent of that eight-year, $218 million deal. Having Fried at the top allows Carlos Rodon to take his time returning from his minor elbow cleanup. The plan isn’t to survive April; it’s to have a stable of arms that makes the postseason feel like an inevitability.
The New Reality in the Bronx
Expectations need to be grounded in reality, though. Nobody is asking Cole to be the 200-inning workhorse of five years ago the second he steps back on the rubber. If he can give this team 25 to 30 starts of 95-mph heaters and veteran savvy, he’s still one of the best assets in the league. The rotation depth featuring Luis Gil, Will Warren, Ryan Weathers, and Ryan Yarbrough gives Aaron Boone the flexibility to keep Cole on a pitch count without killing the bullpen, even though an extra arm would be nice.
The Yankees finished 2025 with 94 wins despite their ace being a spectator. Now they add a healthy Max Fried for a full second year and a version of Gerrit Cole that seems hell-bent on defying the standard 14-month rehab clock. This isn’t just a collection of talent. It is a calculated insurance policy that is finally starting to pay dividends before the season even starts.
Cole isn’t just rehabbing; he’s hunting. April can’t get here fast enough.
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