Yankees’ Gerrit Cole Making First Start Since Injury

The New York Yankees went through the 2025 season with a glaring hole in their starting lineup. Gerrit Cole, who helped propel the Pinstripes to the 2024 World Series, missed the entirety of last season after exiting Spring Training in 2025 to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Now, Cole is on the doorstep of being back. According to the New York Post's Joel Sherman, Cole will start in the Yankees' Spring Training game against the Boston Red Sox. It's the first game he'll play in in over a year, though certainly not the first step in recovery.

Throughout the offseason, Cole has been working hard to rehab his arm and get back to throwing shape. What started with slower sessions has built to throwing on the mound, to live bullpens sessions, to batting practice. That work is paying off when he gets the start against Boston, though he'll likely be limited to one inning and a handful of pitches.

“So I’m excited to be playing the game," he told the Post. "I’m excited that I did all those things well to give us this opportunity too. So, it’s kind of a big deal, but it’s kind of just the next step.”

To learn more about the Yankees from Spring Training and beyond, subscribe to All Yankees Talk, where new episodes are featured twice a week!

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!