Yankees set Gerrit Cole's return for Friday vs. Rays: 'I've missed it quite a lot'

NEW YORK — Sitting inside Yankee Stadium’s press conference room, Aaron Boone couldn’t help but smile as he announced that Gerrit Cole will pitch on Friday.

But, after a quick pause, the manager realized he didn’t specify where.

“For us,” Boone followed up, sparking another smile and a few laughs on Tuesday.

The Yankees initially planned on Cole, who underwent Tommy John surgery on March 11, 2025, making one more minor league rehab start. Instead, the 2023 Cy Young winner will make his 2026 season debut at Yankee Stadium when the second-place Bombers begin a three-game series with the American League East-leading Rays.

“I’m most looking forward to just competing at the highest stage,” said Cole, flashing a few grins of his own as he held court on Tuesday. “We have a first-place club coming in. They have the best record in the American League, divisional opponent, so pretty high stakes for a Friday night in May.”

Boone, meanwhile, sounded giddy to be getting his longtime ace back.

“There’s no getting around how great a pitcher Gerrit Cole has been in his career, and with the Yankees,” Boone said, noting that the righty hasn’t pitched in a meaningful contest since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. “To have him back, to have him healthy — I feel like he’s crushed his rehab, he’s done everything he’s needed to do to be ready for this — we’re thrilled to get him back.

“We’re all excited for him and know the long road that it’s been to get back to this point.”

Boone initially thought that Cole would make one more rehab start when the Yankees left Citi Field on Sunday, and he didn’t want the team to make any “rash decisions” after Max Fried, who has assumed the responsibilities of a No. 1 starter, went on the injured list with a bone bruise over the weekend.

But after consulting with Cole, trainers, the Yankees’ pitching coaches and others, “We just felt like he has done everything he needs to be ready to compete now at this level,” Boone said. He added that Cole insisted he was ready, and the pitcher made it through a bullpen at Yankee Stadium without issue on Tuesday after totaling one earned run, six hits, six strikeouts, one walk and 84 pitches over 5 1/3 innings in a Triple-A outing on Saturday.

Cole said he was encouraged by his ability to throw all those pitches without losing stamina or stuff quality, his recovery, his strike-throwing, and his execution, among other factors. That he topped out at 99.6 mph didn’t hurt, either.

“When we all looked at it and just considered all the variables, it checked all the boxes,” said Cole, who will have some pitch restrictions against a Rays team that runs well and puts the ball in play. “I’m confident, I’m optimistic, but I definitely know there’s some work in front of us. It’s just the right time to take the next step.”

Friday will mark the end of a grueling rehab process, but also one that has gone exceptionally well.

Cole and the Yankees always considered a late-May or early-June return to be ideal, but the 35-year-old is beating that timetable by a week or so. While Cole is foregoing an extra rehab start, he credited patience, as well as attention to detail, for his smooth recovery. Boone said that the pitcher has been incredibly “disciplined.”

Still, a model of durability before first experiencing elbow issues in 2024, Cole admitted that the past 14 months have been challenging.

“It’s been tough. I’ve missed it quite a lot. I try to contribute as much as I can without being on the field, finding new ways to add something to the mix, said Cole, who has earned a rep as an unofficial pitching coach over the years. “There’s been some blessings along the way as well. We’ve talked about my family and spending time with my boys, but largely, I’m just looking forward to being really tired and having that exhaustion mean something, like high stakes. You feel like it’s worth it, like it’s fulfilled, and it’s obviously a tremendously exciting environment.”

Cole also mentioned that it’s “a blessing to play the game. You get a better sense of that once you’re removed from it.”

Now one of the best pitchers of his generation will have to remain disciplined, as it’s not unusual for Tommy John patients to experience rust when they return to the mound.

Command is often what eludes them most — Carlos Rodón has struggled with that since coming back from a lesser elbow cleanup procedure — but Boone said that Cole’s has been “pretty dialed in” since spring training.

The skipper, unsurprised, attributed that to Cole’s mechanics, which now include an over-the-head windup.

“His delivery is amazing. It’s a Mercedes-Benz delivery,” Boone said. “That has lent itself to a lot of his consistency over the years. That, in a lot of ways, contributes to what I think will be better command than maybe other cases.”

Boone added that everything he’s seen from Cole over the last few months has left him confident that the six-time All-Star is “going to be really good” and “pitch well for us.”

That doesn’t mean there won’t be some bumps along the way as Cole readjusts to big league competition, but the veteran is holding himself to high standards, as usual.

“Healthy, not healthy, Tommy John, whatever, you never know what you’re gonna get in the game, right?” Cole said when asked about his expectations for himself. “So you gotta do your work to try to put yourself in the best position physically to execute those pitches, and then sometimes you gotta fly by the seat of your pants when you’re in the thick of it. So I’m planning for the best, but at the same time not too far removed from understanding that I may have to adapt as the game unfolds, as the situations unfold, but that process is not necessarily any different than before.

“I’m not going to speculate on what could happen or what would happen, but I feel like I’ve built enough domain, and I’m in a good frame of mind. I’m as prepared as possible to do the best I can, whatever challenges come our way on Friday.”