Gerrit Cole’s closure is almost complete.
The current AL Cy Young Award winner plans to start playing catch “within the next few days,” Aaron Boone said Sunday, possibly as early as Monday.
After being diagnosed with nerve inflammation and edema in his right elbow (he met with Dr. Neal El-Atrache on March 14), Cole was prescribed a three to four week ban from pitching.
He keeps his arms moving during the shutdown, doing movements and plyometrics, so he’s not completely starting from scratch when he starts throwing.
Still, Cole is expected to need about six weeks, the equivalent of spring training, to fully strengthen before returning to the Yankees.
He will not be eligible to be removed from the 60-day injured list until May 27 at the earliest.
Cole is one of the few aces in the sport to miss out with an elbow injury earlier this season, joining Spencer Strider, Shane Bieber and Yuri Perez in recent years.
“It’s concerning that there are so many injuries,” Boone said. “I think in a lot of ways we’re getting better at how we strengthen our players. But it’s important to strengthen them in a safe way. The overall amount of stuff that everyone has right now. I’m sure that’s a factor.”
In a statement Saturday night, the MLB Players Association blamed pitching clocks for a spate of pitcher injuries, but MLB countered that there was no evidence to support that connection.
“I think that might be one of the factors. It’s possible,” Boone said. “I’m not sure about that. I think it’s all on the table and maybe part of the stew that’s causing some of this problem.”
Gleyber Torres struck out Beauden Francis in the first inning after stepping back to the plate.
Francis immediately went for the throw and appeared to take a step from behind the rubber before home plate umpire Angel Hernandez threw the pitch, calling it strike three.
Torres immediately filed a lawsuit against Hernandez, and Boone also came out and argued, but to no avail.
“[The explanation was] I think he came back and had time and was able to complete the action,” Boone said. “It’s definitely one of those things that I’d like to look into and get an explanation of exactly what’s allowed there. He never broke his hand. From my understanding, You have to at least break your hand when you come off the mound. It may have been within the rules, but it certainly felt a little weird.”
DJ LeMahieu took a grounder hit to right at third base on Sunday and did some light running between first and second base, including a stop and a start.
The veteran continues to increase his workload after suffering a non-displaced fracture in his right foot.
Monday’s game was postponed from 2:05 p.m. to 6:05 p.m. to avoid playing during a solar eclipse.
Boone said he has not been informed whether the Yankees will need to change their pregame on-field work.
“It would have been interesting to play in the middle of that, that’s for sure,” Giancarlo Stanton said. “Hopefully we can see it here around practice time. It’ll be great.”
Boone said he hasn’t given much thought to the time change.
“Obviously, that’s probably the right thing to do,” Boone said. “I remember it happened when I was at the Little League World Series.” [in 2017] When I had glasses. She was certainly interesting. ”
