The Yankees opted to cut Gerrit Cole’s rehab assignment early, meaning the former Cy Young Award winner is ready to return to the Majors. It’s been a lengthy rehab for Cole, who missed all of 2025 thanks to UCL reconstruction surgery. But heading into the summer, the Yankees get their ace back. Here’s how his rehab assignment went.
The numbers
The numbers from Gerrit Cole‘s rehab assignment were, overall, good.
Yes, Cole did have some problems with the long ball, as the 35-year-old gave up six home runs over 29 innings between three levels. Most of Cole’s rehab assignment was spent between Double-A Somerset and in Dutchess County with the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades. His last start was with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Cole struck out 28 over 29 innings, only walked three, and was able to build up to close to 90 pitches.
We also received a lengthy look at Cole’s new delivery, as the righty has opted for a more traditional delivery, bringing his glove and throwing hand above his head.
The velocity
In his only two 2026 spring outings, Gerrit Cole showed that the velocity was still there, even though he didn’t pitch much. The right-hander topped out at 99 MPH in his first one, then touched 98 MPH on March 24. But in the shortened sample size, there were a lot of 95s and 96s.
While High-A and Double-A don’t have pitch-tracking Statcast numbers that the Triple-A level does, we do have an idea of where Cole was at during his lengthy rehab assignment. And, it was mostly where it was in the spring. Both in High-A and Double-A, there was a hefty amount of mid-90s fastballs thrown.
The last start he made, which wasn’t supposed to be his ultimate one until the Yankees opted against one more, was where the real litmus test was. That is because Cole got up to 86 pitches. And, things went relatively well from a velocity standpoint.
Cole did hit 100 MPH in that start, which was the obvious talking point. But what was the real positive sign was how well Cole was able to hold the velocity. Take a look at the inning-by-inning chart from that outing on the 16th. He averaged 96-97 MPH the entire game, and his fastball gradually ticked up as the night went on.
So, from that standpoint, all is just about well.
Now, the real test begins, as Cole will make a start in a regular-season game for the first time since 2024. That season was an interesting one for Cole, as he missed months with an elbow issue and saw diminished velocity — albeit still good velo, it should be noted — a year after his Cy Young campaign.
With Cole back, the Yankees’ rotation is in good shape, despite not having Max Fried. Ryan Weathers and Will Warren have both pitched well this season. Plus, Carlos Rodon returned earlier this month.
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