The New York Yankees’ ace Gerrit Cole is dealing with nerve inflammation in his throwing elbow and will have to pause throwing for three to four weeks. Cole confirmed this while talking with reporters on Saturday.
Cole experienced a sore elbow earlier this month, and there was a concern that he might have to undergo Tommy John surgery. This would sideline him for the 2024 season and the better part of the 2025 campaign.
Luckily for Cole and the Yankees, an MRI test revealed that the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner is “only” dealing with a nerve inflammation. He will now need to go through a period of rest and rehab but is expected to get back into action in May or early June.
“I think we’ve determined that we just got a little too hot a little too quick in the spring,” Cole said via MLB.com. “We progressed through the normal recovery cycle, but at a certain time we didn’t get back to the baseline which was our target. At that point, it was time to see what was going on.”
Gerrit Cole made 33 starts in 2023, going 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA and 222 strikeouts. He was named an All-Star for the sixth time in his career while winning his first Cy Young Award.
With Cole being out for the start of the season, Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman said that the franchise feels good about weathering his absence. However, he didn’t exclude the possibility of strengthening the roster with another quality arm.
“I feel good about our internal options. At the same time, it’s never stopped us from having external conversations,” said Cashman.
