ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Patiently, carefully and with encouragement, Gerrit Cole’s growth continues.
On Saturday at Tropicana Field, the Yankees ace threw 29 pitches, 13 of them breaking balls, in his third bullpen session since being suspended in March due to nerve inflammation and swelling in his right elbow.
After throwing 15 pitches (all fastballs) in his first bullpen session last Saturday and 20 pitches (mostly fastballs) on Tuesday, Cole continues to increase his pitching volume, which could come around early July. He has taken a new step towards his comeback.
“We’re making good progress,” Cole said. “His fastball had a good pitch and was in a good location. The velocity was what we wanted. [averaging 89.5 mph]. There were a lot of strikes. ”
The Yankees and Cole have repeatedly declined to say when he will return, moving through each step of the rehabilitation process.
But Cole indicated Saturday that he will need at least a few more bullpen practices before he is ready to move on to facing live hitters.
If all goes according to plan, a few live sessions will be followed by a rehab assignment.
“Several [the bullpen sessions] It’s a combination of adding volume and adding strength,” Cole said. “We already have some knowledge of the curveball percentage and the offspeed percentage because it’s relatively similar to what the game looks like. Fastball percentage, he’s 55-60%, but probably at this point. It’s just a little expensive. [stage]. At this point, you can say it’s almost full size.
“So the next couple I’m going to try to go 2-up so I can approach the batter. I need to add volume and intensity and feather it strategically. I’m a few more shots away from facing the batter. I don’t know.”
As long as he recovers well from Saturday, Cole’s next bullpen session could be Tuesday at the Yankees’ player development facility in Tampa.
Cole will now be able to participate in the club’s pitching lab and receive biokinetic feedback.
“That’s just a little bit of information,” he said. “Just a way to cross-reference data with Hawk-Eye.” [tracking system]. A little more precision will give you more information. ”
Overall, Cole’s rehabilitation process has been going well since he started playing catch again on April 8th after being shut down for three to four weeks.
He had started only one game in the Grapefruit League before being diagnosed with an elbow problem, but the elbow problem was due to insufficient recovery between road trips, so the Yankees gave Cole a full The plan is to give him the equivalent of spring training (six weeks) to increase his workload. Be responsible.
But even without the current AL Cy Young Award winner, the Yankees’ rotation has been pitching well to start the season.
Group entered Saturday with the seventh-lowest ERA in the majors at 3.36, but that dropped to 3.36 after Clark Schmidt pitched 6/3 shutout innings against the Rays on Friday night. Ta.
“It’s fun to watch,” Cole said. “The big one [Friday] Clark night. They all just pull the car together. They do a great job of pitching together and communicating as a group. They pay attention, motivate each other, and are competitive. They are all improving in their own way. They have been a real strength to us. ”
Although Cole is sidelined, he remains an important voice for his fellow pitchers, often providing feedback and advice during and after starting pitchers and bullpen sessions.
That included observing Lewis Gil’s bullpen session on Friday and then spending time with him to go over some mechanical suggestions.
“We want to make sure we’re breaking the hand in a consistent place,” Cole said of the pitcher’s movement away from the glove while pitching. “As pitchers, we talk a lot about the top of the leg lift. This may vary a little bit from person to person in that you don’t necessarily break at the top. You don’t break at the top. But eventually… Some of the [Gil’s] If his breaks aren’t very good, his delivery will be a little erratic.
“So just trust that and work on it. Trust that when the ball comes out early, there’s less work to do and the ball is going to get hot and go where you want it to go.”
