Yankees Injury Update: Gerrit Cole and Anthony Volpe progress, Carlos Rodón rehab

While the New York Yankees got through spring training pretty much unscathed (for the first time in forever), they're not without their walking wounded. At some point in 2026, the rotation will get a huge boost with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón returning to action, while the first member of the IL contingent to return will likely be Anthony Volpe.

Cole surprised us all by making a couple of abbreviated rehab starts in spring training, and while he only tallied 2 2/3 innings, it was hard not to be impressed by both the velocity and the quality of his stuff.

He's set to throw a batting practice session on April 1, and then it will be off to the minors to get some work in during "game situations" during the next few weeks. It sounds like the Yankees will continue ramping him up slowly, which is the right call, and that everything is moving in a positive direction. The current assumption is that he'll be activated at some point between May and June.

Anthony Volpe's return to the Yankees is on the horizon

Getting a straight answer from Volpe about the status of his rehab has proven to be a real challenge. Every interview he's given has been filled with cliches as he rephrases questions and avoids saying anything of substance beyond how excited he is to return to the team.

Fortunately, we have Aaron Boone to clue us in on the fact that Volpe will take live batting practice on April 1 with eyes on beginning a rehab assignment by the middle of the month.

He's already been doing fielding and running drills, including diving on his surgically-repaired shoulder, so the last hurdle seems to be swinging the bat. The timetable right now is for a return that's no earlier than the beginning of May, but as long as there isn't a setback, it seems that he should be ready to return to duty much closer to the beginning of May than the end.

Carlos Rodón's mysterious rehab from elbow surgery still pegs him to return to the Yankees before Gerrit Cole

It was curious to see Cole take the mound during Grapefruit action, but not Rodón. The paranoid among us may have interpreted that as his left elbow issue being worse than originally thought. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.

The veteran southpaw threw a 50-pitch bullpen session on March 24, marking the fourth time he has faced live hitters since his October procedure. The timetable for him to return is sometime between the end of April and May, though with a rehab assignment pending, an April activation from the IL seems optimistic.

This spring, we saw a handful of other pitchers like Hunter Greene of the Cincinnati Reds, and both Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep of the Atlanta Braves, succumb to the same injury that plagued Rodón, and all three are set to miss significant time. It just once again highlights how appreciative fans should be of how he battled last season and how quickly he moved to address the issue over the offseason.