MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Yankees ace Gerrit Cole crossed off another milestone in his recovery from Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2025. For the first time since going under the knife, the 35-year-old righty faced hitters, and it went as well as one could have expected. The 2023 AL Cy Young threw an inning and about 20 pitches, facing hitters such as Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge, and Jasson Dominguez. He struck out the center fielder, induced Judge to hit a grounder to second, and allowed hard contact to the Martian to round out the day.
Cole’s fastball sat in the 95-96 mph range, awfully encouraging at this time of the year. He won’t be ready for the start of the season, but should be back once he is fully stretched out, probably around late April.
Brendan Kuty on X: Everybody in attendance was impressed with Cole’s live batting practice session, his first after blowing up his elbow last spring. One of them, of course, was Yankees captain Aaron Judge.
“It looked like the old 45 that I’ve seen for years,” Judge said about his teammate. With his fastball sitting in the mid-90s and touching 96 mph, it’s a matter of making sure Cole’s command is on point and his breaking stuff rebounds all the way back after surgery, plus stretching out to a full starter’s workload. That could take a few weeks, but things are trending in the right direction. Can Cole and Judge lead the Yankees to the promised land?
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The Yankees had their spring training debut on Friday afternoon at Ed Smith Stadium, losing 2-0 to the Baltimore Orioles. A Pete Alonso two-run shot versus Bradley Hanner was the difference between the two teams. Prospect Elmer Rodríguez stole the show for the Yankees, touching 97 mph on the radar gun and tossing three scoreless frames. He conceded just three hits and no walks, striking out one. He looked in control for most of the afternoon, and his stuff was crisp.
“It felt good,” Rodríguez told Hoch. “That first inning, my adrenaline was high in the moment, but I was able to use it and channel it, and use it to my advantage.”
Jazz Chisholm Jr., Amed Rosario, Austin Wells, and José Caballero played on Friday, and Jake Bird contributed a scoreless frame in relief. Carson Coleman struck out the side in the seventh.
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