MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: In Gerrit Cole’s most recent rehab outing, the former Cy Young winner touched 99.6 mph on the gun, velo that would impress even among the best in MLB. Given that pitch-level success, it’s been debated within the Yankee org whether it would be better to let Cole have one more rehab outing, or activate him in time to pitch on regular rest during this current homestand Friday night. While the Yankees will be understandably careful after Tommy John at Cole’s age, adding a player of his caliber to both replace Max Fried and spell the bullpen a bit must be awfully tempting.
New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: As I said above, adding someone like Cole could eat up innings that are currently being taken by the bullpen, and generally those are not well pitched. While the club has continued to shift payroll allocation away from the relief unit, avoiding the bloated contracts that kept people like Aroldis Chapman around for longer than he probably should have been, the replacements brought in have yet to impress, particularly in high-leverage spots. Part of this is the lack of swing and miss, for all the value of a groundball — and the Yankees boast a 50 percent GB rate — when you really, absolutely need an out, a strikeout is preferential to anything else.
NJ.com | Bob Klapisch: While discussing how underwhelming the bullpen as a whole has been, David Bednar in particular has become a problem. We can debate the exact value of a true, ninth-inning closer, but when you’re handed a three-run lead in the ninth, you really need to come out of that game with the win. While his FIP is significantly lower than his ERA, which should indicate some positive regression coming your way, those kind of splits can last for longer than you think because of how little closers pitch, and the impact two or three bad outings can have — both on a pitcher, and in a close division race.
MLBTR | Darragh McDonald: We close with a couple of “in case you missed it” posts. The Yankees optioned Elmer Rodríguez back to Triple-A after a meh start Sunday, bringing righty Yovanny Cruz up as pitching depth while Max Fried will continue to be evaluated on the IL.
MLBTR | Darragh McDonald: Happy trails to Gio Urshela, one of the big pieces of the 2019 Yankees, putting up three-plus wins in a year that saw the Yanks make it to the ALCS. The ten-year vet announced that he was hanging up the spikes yesterday, unable to find an MLB job this season. Best of luck going forward, Gio!
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