The New York Yankees are one step closer to regaining their ace.
Gerrit Cole will begin a minor league rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset on Tuesday, manager Aaron Boone told reporters on Sunday afternoon (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com).
Cole, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, has not pitched for the Yankees this season after being sidelined during spring training due to right elbow inflammation. After three recent pitching sessions, which included facing live hitters, he is now on track to return to the Yankees’ rotation.
How many rehab starts Cole pitches will depend on how he performs and responds during those outings. If he follows a typical spring training program, Cole could be ready in about six weeks. Under that timeline, he could rejoin the Yankees at the All-Star break, which was the initial hope when Cole was cut.
The Yankees have the best record in the AL heading into Sunday’s game against the San Francisco Giants. At 41-19, they maintain first place in the AL East, two games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles. That success is largely due to the excellent starting pitching the Yankees have gotten in Cole’s absence.
Yankees starters have an ERA of 2.73. Only the Philadelphia Phillies (2.67) are currently better in the MLB. The rotation recently ended an MLB-record streak of 16 consecutive starts of at least five innings while allowing two runs or fewer. That streak came to an end last Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels when Carlos Rodon allowed three runs in six innings.
Last week, the Yankees placed Clarke Schmidt on the injured list with a right lat strain. He is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks, putting his return in line with Cole’s.
Righthander Clay Poteet was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Schmidt’s place in the rotation and he allowed two earned runs with six strikeouts in five innings against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday.
