UTK Flash - Gerrit Cole

Cole Elbow Concerns Resurface

Gerrit Cole is headed for imaging on his elbow, complaining of similar pain to what he experienced last year. Suprisingly, this is a good sign amidst what is very bad news for the Yankees. Cole’s nerve issue from 2024 did not need surgery and was manageable, leading to his return to the Yankees rotation and a solid season, if shortened at the front.

The timing on this is intriguing, matching up with last year. Cole’s high spin, high velocity has always concern people for injury as he matches the profile, but he’s largely been healthy. There are so many confounding factors that it’s easy for the doom-sayers to go “I told you so” now when they’ve been wrong so many times for so many reasons. If this is again the nerve, I’ll defy anyone to say they predicted that.

Is Cole risky? Yes. But risk isn’t destiny. Things that have a one percent chance of happening happen all the time. It’s why we gamble and why there’s odds.

Cole had two starts so far this spring, with the first looking like normal Cole results. He had five strikeouts, was working with all his pitches, and sat at 95. His second outing was a bit odd, since he was pulled in the second but returned in the third - it’s spring training - and he got his work in, as intended. Cole did acknowledge he didn’t like his results, but gave no indications of a physical problem at the time.

That would mean this came up quickly, in the recovery from that outing. That’s unusual, but last year’s nerve irritation involved significant swelling. There’s no word on if that’s similar, but the Yankees will have strong indications early.

Cole did mention a second opinion, per multiple reports, which is unusual this early and could indicate some frustration. Cole was treated last year by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, so “second” could merely mean he’s headed back to revisit that success. My guess is this is the case.

Remember that last year, many expected Tommy John surgery given the symptoms, but Cole had no damage to the UCL and was never advised to have the surgery. While today’s news is certainly concerning enough for me to come off the floor at Sloan and make some calls, it’s not the worst case scenario. More news will come soon with more examinations and I’ll continue to monitor it.