Yankees' Gerrit Cole to undergo elbow testing in remarkable rerun of 2024 nightmare

Adam Weinrib

Toronto Blue Jays v New York Yankees / Brandon Sloter/GettyImages

Last year, New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole got off light when his elbow was examined prior to the regular season. For a moment, it seemed his entire campaign might be lost after getting pummeled by the Toronto Blue Jays in a tuneup start, then complaining about his arm barking. Ultimately, doctors agreed his UCL was intact after he flew cross-country for examination, and he returned in June, piloting the Yankees to the World Series (where he famously forgot to cover first base).

After briefly flirting with opting out this offseason, Cole decided to return to the Yankees on the parameters of his current contract, looking for a reset after a difficult Fall Classic. Somehow, after just two spring starts, he seems to have met the very same fate as last year.

Cole's first outing was dominant. In his second appearance against the Minnesota Twins, he gave up six earned runs, including home runs to both Matt Wallner and Brooks Lee.

And, familiarly, it was announced on Friday night that he'd be undergoing diagnostic testing on his right elbow.

Gerrit Cole is undergoing diagnostic tests on his throwing elbow, source says.

Cole’s status should be clearer within the next couple days.

He gave up 6 ER in a spring outing yesterday. @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 8, 2025

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole undergoing testing on throwing elbow after missing portion of 2024 season

Now, Yankees fans will have to hope he's as lucky once again as he was last March. Even that bout of luck resulted in 2.5 months away from the game.

Last season, Luis Gil stepped up in his wake, borderline replicating (if not surpassing) his performance during the season's first two months. This time around, Gil is injured, and will miss at least three months, according to GM Brian Cashman. Clarke Schmidt, battling a balky back, hopes to make his second start of the season after skipping the first one.

The 2025 Yankees, thought to have an overload of pitching after signing Max Fried, are already down to two healthy starters from ther intended five-man rotation. It's almost laughable. It's not quite laughable. But it's certainly almost there.

Stay tuned for additional updates on Cole in the days to come when some form of clarity is provided. Even in a best-case scenario, he'll need additional buildup because his injury occurred during spring training. Much like when Frankie Montas suffered an offseason shoulder injury in 2023 and things cascaded from there, the entire rotation appears to be following Gil's disastrous lead.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard for 6 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast thrice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for 10 years. He was also a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.