The time has come for the New York Yankees to get together and decide what the next step is for their rehabbing ace.
There is a possibility that the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, Gerrit Cole, could make his return to the Bronx as soon as Wednesday, June 19 when his next turn in the rotation is due up.
According to Yankees beat writer Greg Joyce of The New York Post, manager Aaron Boone told reporters prior to the Bronx Bombers' first game at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox on Friday that the team will huddle together over the next 24-48 hours to determine whether Cole needs another rehab start or if he is officially ready to rejoin the big-league rotation.
Cole dominated in his third rehab start on Friday, which was his first minor league outing with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The superstar righty mowed down the Rochester Red Wings with 10 strikeouts across 4.1 innings on 70 pitches, a dominant performance.
Should Cole's next start come in the majors, it would be his season debut after an elbow injury kept him sidelined since early-March in Spring Training.
Surprisingly, the Yankees' starting rotation has dominated in Cole's absence behind rookie phenom Luis Gil, rejuvenated left-hander Carlos Rodon, veteran star Marcus Stroman and the now injured (lat issue) Clarke Schmidt.
Prior to Friday's impressive showing for Scranton, Cole tossed eight innings of one-run ball, where he racked up nine strikeouts across two rehab starts with the Double-A Somerset Patriots. His most recent rehab start was even better than the previous two.
Cole has been on record recently enforcing the fact that he needs to be responsible with his rehab timeline. However, it appears that if he isn't deemed ready to return to the major league rotation for his next outing, his 2024 Yankee debut will likely come the following time through.
