Gerrit

Cole

Cole looked extremely sharp in his first postseason outing since Game 5 the World Series back in 2024. The 36-year-old veteran surrendered only five hits with a third-inning solo blast by Jonathan Aranda representing the lone tally against him. He finished with five strikeouts and only issued one walk before being lifted at just 82 pitches (58 strikes) over five strong frames. He figures to get the ball for Game 4 of the best-of-five series at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.

Cole would have started Game 3 against the Red Sox. He figures to be followed by Cam Schlittler and Max Fried against the Rays. There is an extra day off in the ALDS, so the Yankees will probably use just the three starters, putting Carlos Rodón in the bullpen again.

That means that Max Fried will pitch for the Yankees in Game 2 while Gerrit Cole would be waiting in the wings for Game 3 if necessary. Schlittler is certainly deserving of the honor as he posted a brilliant 1.95 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 239 strikeouts over 193 2/3 innings over 33 starts during the regular season and is the favorite to take home Cy Young award honors in the American League.

Cole struck out eight and walked three to conclude the regular season 10-9 with a 3.61 ERA. Cedric Mullins homered off him, but that was one of only three hard-hit balls he allowed. It’s unclear if Cole will be penciled in for a start in the Wild Card series next week. He seems like the Yankees’ fourth-best option right now.

Cole allowed four hits, walked none and struck out six in his best outing in a month. Corbin Carroll’s rocket 388-foot homer accounted for the only damage. Cole is back at 9-9 with a 3.63 ERA. He’s slated to take on the Rays in his regular-season finale.

Last Sunday against the Padres, it was pretty much just the four homers that did Cole in, and he was quite good after giving up three in a row to start the game. Today, though, he was just crushed throughout. 14 of the 18 balls in play he allowed were hard hit, and he generated only three whiffs on 40 swings. The Yankees have to be fairly concerned at this point. He’s given up 20 homers in 115 1/3 innings on the season. In his last full year in 2023, he allowed 20 homers in 209 innings while taking home AL Cy Young honors. Cole will next face the Diamondbacks in Arizona on Friday.

Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado homered to start the bottom of the first. It was the 12th time ever that a team opened a game with three straight homers. Cole was also responsible for one of the previous 11 against the Twins in 2022. The fourth run today also came on a homer from Luis Campusano in the seventh. Cole allowed only two other hits and walked none. He settled for three strikeouts, but he did have 12 whiffs on 47 swings. He threw a total of 24 pitches over the final three innings and 84 pitches overall. In all, it was a pretty reasonable outing, though it did result in him falling to 8-8 with a 3.41 ERA. He’ll face the Mets next weekend.

Cole tossed two scoreless innings before the Angels put a run on the board on two hits in the third. He’d settle in to pitch into the sixth, recording one out and giving up two more runs on three hits before he was replaced at 90 pitches. He struck out five. The 35-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 3.29 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and a 110/22 K/BB ratio across 104 innings into a start against the Rockies in New York next Tuesday.

Cole scattered four hits in the ballgame while allowing only one base on balls. The only blemish on his day came on a solo blast off the bat of Dylan Beavers in the fifth inning. Aside from that, he was brilliant. The 35-year-old hurler generated 15 swings and misses on his 93 offerings — seven of them on his fastball — while posting a strong CSW of 35 percent. Now 7-6 on the season, Cole will bring a 3.11 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and a 100/20 K/BB ratio (92 2/3 innings) into Wednesday’s start against the Astros.

Cole held the Jays scoreless through the first five innings but ran into some trouble in the sixth inning. He allowed a leadoff single to Brett Bateman to begin the frame, and a fielder’s choice by George Springer two batters later brought in the first run of the night for the Jays. Alejandro Kirk would double on the next at-bat to bring home Springer, giving the Jays the 2-1 lead. It’s a tough way to pick up a loss, as Cole did more than enough to position his team to pick up the win in this one. He’s allowed one earned run or less in each of his last four starts and is next scheduled to face the O’s on Thursday in Baltimore.