Yankees get a positive update regarding Gerrit Cole

The New York Yankees received good news regarding the status of reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole on Thursday night.

After visiting Dr. Neal ElAttrache this week, it is believed that Cole will be able to avoid Tommy John Surgery and that he does not have a tear in his UCL. That means Cole is still on his original timeframe of returning in one to two months, according to a report from the New York Post's Jon Heyman. 

That is gigantic news for the Yankees as long as nothing changes over the next few months.

A potential season-ending injury to Cole would have been a crushing blow to a starting rotation that is already short on depth. 

The Yankees were concerned this spring as Cole was not recovering as expected following his starts. 

Cole is one of the best, most dominant starting pitchers in baseball and is coming off a monster 2023 season that saw him post a league-best 2.63 ERA and a league-leading 209 innings pitched.

Even with a healthy Cole the Yankees still have a need for more starting pitching depth but have not yet been willing to match Blake Snell's asking price in free agency. As long as Cole is unavailable, and if he were to miss any additional time than the expected one-to-two months that rotation would be in even worse shape.

The pressure is on for the Yankees to win after a disappointing 82-80 season that wasted Cole's Cy Young performance.