Gerrit Cole continues to check some very important boxes in his rehab assignment, as the Yankees have announced that he will throw a live bullpen today.
The right-hander will face a group consisting of Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham, Giancarlo Stanton, Cody Bellinger, and Jasson Dominguez according to Brendan Kuty of The Athletic.
Manager Aaron Boone previously hinted that Cole could face hitters in the Grapefruit League towards the end of camp, but the former Cy Young winner himself stated that the 14-18 month timeline remained unchanged for his return.
It would peg him for a late-May return at the very earliest, but the Yankees curiously did not choose to place him on the 60-day IL just yet alongside Clarke Schmidt.
While Spring Training days do not count towards the 60-day wait period that’s required when a player is placed there, it does leave some speculation about whether his timeline could be advancing with each milestone reached.
READ MORE: The Yankees are gambling on their new high-leverage bullpen tandem
Yankees Hoping to See Gerrit Cole Check Off a Huge Box In Tommy John Rehab
Just weeks into Spring Training last year the Yankees received devastating news about staff ace Gerrit Cole, who would undergo an MRI on his elbow that would eventually reveal a UCL tear.
What made the news even more painful was the universal understanding that his elbow had reached a point where season-ending surgery was needed, as the official news took days to be released.
Now over 11 months into his rehabilition process, will step on the mound to face live hitters with three former MVPs including reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge among those he’ll be facing.
The New York Yankees are hoping to get Gerrit Cole in either late-May or June, but the timeline for his return has been speculated about due to his rapid progressions from making throws off of a mound to now facing live hitters.
Cole cautioned people against the idea that he would be rushing his return, noting that the surgery was a full UCL reconstruction which would require a 14-18 month recovery window.
Some pitchers have beaten that time window, Zach Duke infamously returned in less than a year after undergoing TJS, but the Yankees don’t want to push Gerrit Cole to do something that could open him up to risk of re-injury.
Even if a return does not come sooner than expected, the Yankees getting a full-strength Gerrit Cole after a 14+ month wait would be a massive development compared to the weakened state he was in for the first month of action in 2024.
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