The New York Yankees officially announced today that the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner and staff ace Gerrit Cole will begin his rehab assignment tonight in Somerset with their Double-A affiliate. The right-hander is expected to make his first professional start since his elbow inflammation, and he’ll get to around 50 pitches in this outing. Last season, Cole struck out over 200 batters with a 2.63 ERA, bringing home his first-ever Cy Young Award after years of being in contention for the illustrious honor.
Furthermore, the team announced that they extended Jasson Dominguez’s rehab assignment by another 10 days, sending him to Triple-A with the Scranton RailRiders to continue ramping up in the outfield.
Yankees Provide Official Updates on Two Key Pieces
One of the areas where the Yankees have shocked people most is in their rotation, as that group has been one of the best in baseball this season. Luis Gil has pitched like a Cy Young contender, sporting a 1.99 ERA and striking out over 30% of batters faced, while veterans like Carlos Rodon, Marcus Stroman, and Nestor Cortes have more than held their own. The injury to Clarke Schmidt has definitely hurt this rotation, but they’ve somehow even gotten production from little-known righty Cody Poteet.
Still, the Yankees would be much better off with Gerrit Cole getting the ball every fifth day, and it’s scary to think about what they could be with Cole on the roster. They are currently the best team in baseball without their ace throwing a single pitch for them, and tonight starts a highly-anticipated road back to the Bronx for the All-Star pitcher.
Aaron Boone mentioned that Cole will need a couple of starts, but the team will ultimately decide based on how he responds to the ramp-up and workload. It’s very possible we could see him back in New York by the end of the month if all goes well for Gerrit Cole.
Top prospect Jasson Dominguez has received a 10-day extension to his rehab assignment, which will keep a 40-man spot open on the Yankees’ roster in the meantime. The Bronx Bombers would have had to make a tough roster decision today had they not done so, and since Dominguez will likely not return to the Major League team upon his activation from the IL, it creates a complicated question of which player they’ll shift to the 60-day IL or potentially even DFA as the corresponding move.
Jon Berti could make sense for a 60-day IL stint since he’s likely still far away from returning, and the same could be said for Clarke Schmidt who is likely not coming back until sometime in late July or early August. With the performances of Giancarlo Stanton and Alex Verdugo, it’s hard to find a role for Dominguez on the team right now, and that’s a very good problem to have given this team’s injury history. Demoting Trent Grisham for Dominguez would also be irrational given that he barely plays anyway.
In his brief return to the Somerset Patriots, Jasson Dominguez belted three home runs with a .316 AVG and .982 OPS in 10 games.