There was no news to report on Gerrit Cole‘s elbow injury that sent the Cy Young Award winner to get an MRI on Sunday, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman did not offer much in the form of optimism, either.
“[I’m] prepared for the worst,” Cashman said, via The New York Post. “We will see how it plays out. I’m always wired to think the worst and hope for the best.”
Cole, after experiencing some discomfort underwent tests on his right elbow Friday and said he is “concerned” about what the imaging might show. “I’ve still got some hope. I’m just waiting for the experts to weigh in,” he said.
Cashman, speaking before the Yanks’ 6-5 Grapefruit League loss to the Cardinals added, “Obviously not what you want, but it’s ultimately part of our journey here in 2025.”
This isn’t the first rodeo with Cole getting the injury bug as he began last campaign on the 60-day injured list due to an elbow issue, which kept him out of action until mid-June. He started 17 games pitching to a 3.41 ERA and 1.126 WHIP with 99 strikeouts over 95 innings. Cole then made five starts in the postseason run, pitching to a 2.17 ERA and 1.276 WHIP with 22 strikeouts in 29.0 innings.
Cashman spoke about being with Cole last year during a “very emotional” time for the veteran as he dealt with the injury.
“This year now, not as emotional because he’s walked this line already,” the GM said Sunday. “And so, I think he is mentally more prepared to deal with it because he’s already dealt with this once before. And that’s even the worst-case scenario. Just generally, we are all in a better position to handle something if we’ve had some experience handling it in the past.
“He’s already had a lot of conversations. A lot of engagement with the doctors and lived through this last year. So, less of an emotional shock this year, and now more about all right, what needs to be done here, what’s the best route for he and we.”
Cashman said last year after a “successful rehab” they got Cole back into solid form.
“He came back and pitched great for us in the second half and obviously dominant in the postseason,” he said, via The Post. “It certainly felt like smooth sailing was ahead, but again, pitching is very brittle… obviously had a breakdown last spring somewhere around this time, and now we’re dealing with another situation, which is obviously now more concerning because it’s not like the first episode is now the second episode. So, we’ll do what we have to do.”
In his last start of spring, the right-hander allowed six runs (five earned) on five hits and two home runs over 2.2 innings on Thursday.
“In the game, there was a lot of good stuff happening the other day, but as I got home, I just continued to get more and more sore. Something wasn’t right,” Cole said.
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