Yankees seemingly boxed themselves in to Gerrit Cole decision for no reason

UPDATE: The Yankees have made their decision. Gerrit Cole will make his 2026 debut at Yankee Stadium on Friday against the Royals.

Gerrit Cole shocked us when he was actually making (abbreviated) starts in spring training, less than a year removed from his Tommy John surgery. As thrilling as that was, the New York Yankees made it clear that this was a process not to be rushed. Cole is too important to the rotation, and at 35 and coming off a major surgery, there was no reason to take unnecessary risks.

Now, though, they appear to be backtracking on that, with Bryan Hoch reporting that they are considering skipping the 2023 AL Cy Young's final rehab start to instead expedite his return to the Bronx. Nothing is set in stone yet, but we have questions.

Expediting Cole is one thing. We're not fans of it, but there could be some logic. Expediting Cole now, given the current circumstances, feels like a dangerous game that simply doesn't need to be played.

Yankees rushing Gerrit Cole back on the heels of Max Fried's injury doesn't seem right

For most of the season, the Yankees had the best starting rotation in baseball. New York has a legitimate monster in Cam Schlittler. Fried had picked up right where he left off last year. Will Warren had been a revelation. Finally, Ryan Weathers seemed to finally convert his electric raw stuff into actual production. It didn't matter that the fifth starter spot had been a revolving door of subpar performances.

So far, we haven't heard anything to contradict the initial optimistic bone bruise diagnosis for Fried's left elbow. Still, even without any unforeseen updates, Fried is likely going to miss at least a month between the rest required to heal, plus the work he'll need to do to build his arm back up. A setback or complication would make that an even more perilous situation.

Rushing Cole and risking a setback for him as well could be a disastrous scenario that leaves the Yankees without the two men they envisioned leading their rotation for the next several years. And for what? It's not like skipping Cole's final rehab start somehow bridges the gap between his return and Fried's ultimate activation from the IL.

Cole just put together his best rehab outing yet on May 16 against the Syracuse Mets, throwing 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball while hitting 99.6 miles per hour on the gun. Rehab stats don't mean that much, though.

Two out of three of Rodón's rehab games were stellar, too, and now that he's back, we're seeing how little that meant as he's struggled with command and been largely ineffective over his first two big league starts of the year.

New York might not be in love with its other options, but there are ways to cover one start until the veteran ace's full rehab slate is complete. Like it or not, Elmer Rodriguez has kept the Yankees in games, even if the results haven't been pretty.

Then there's Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn, two veterans with extensive starting experience. What is the point of rostering them if neither can make one spot start? What about Brendan Beck? A bullpen game? Point being, they don't have to put Cole, who might not even be effective, at risk like this.

We've been fans of the Yankees' newfound urgency for most of the season. That's not what rushing Cole is. If they go through with it, it's just a reckless move with little upside and a whole lot of pitfalls. The last thing the team needs.

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