TAMPA — The Yankees and Gerrit Cole believe the right-handed pitcher will be able to pitch this season after a few weeks of not throwing a baseball and continuing his slow development.
An orthopedic surgeon reached by phone this weekend agreed.
Cole was diagnosed with nerve inflammation and edema in his right elbow and has been told not to pitch for three to four weeks.
Importantly, after various scans and consultation with Dr. Neil El-Atrash, he was told that no surgery was needed to cure the disease.
“It usually gets better on its own,” said Dr. Eric Bowman, assistant professor of orthopedics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and team physician for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds and Vanderbilt. “I would say that 90 percent of the patients I see usually get better. It’s rare that they get to the point where they need surgical treatment.”
Bowman said the nerve was likely the ulnar nerve, located on the inside of the elbow. Problems with the ulnar nerve are common in pitchers, whose movements put a lot of stress on the nerve.
Edema, on the other hand, is a medical term that means swelling, and is often seen in pitchers.
Edema “is generally a sign of stress, essentially stress on the bones,” Bowman says. “We’re experiencing it at the beginning of the season, when we start to grow and the bones and the supporting ligaments and muscles start to adapt to the stress. And then fatigue starts to show up also in the second half of the season.”
Cole, who pitched one Grapefruit League game and one 37-pitch live batting practice session, said, “I got a little too hot in the spring, a little too soon,” when explaining the cause of the injury. That sounded right to Bowman.
The two problems combined to cause discomfort, but no doctors discovered a tear in Cole’s UCL that would likely require surgery. Nerve inflammation or edema can sometimes require surgery, but Bowman said such cases are rare.
Bowman hasn’t evaluated Cole, but said pitchers typically need between two and seven weeks of rest before they can start pitching again, depending on the severity of the injury. The Yankees are targeting three to four weeks.
When Cole picks up the ball again, he will need about six weeks (basically full spring training) to get his arm to where it needs to be. If Cole starts pitching in early April, he won’t be able to make his debut until the end of May at the earliest.
Considering other options, the Yankees would be willing to sign their ace if he would only be out for two months.
“The good news is that the vast majority of these patients will settle down with rest and rehabilitation and will not move on to something else,” Bowman said.
