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Yankees’ Gerrit Cole Reveals Injury Update on Saturday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Josh Valdez | Last updated Nov 1, 2025 1:26 PM ET

The New York Yankees have one of the better pitching outlooks in baseball moving forward as long as one key development goes their way.

The Yankees finished 14th in baseball with a 3.91 team ERA this past season, per MLB.com. That means they were slightly above average without ace Gerrit Cole, who missed the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

New signee Max Fried led MLB with 19 wins and finished eighth with a 2.86 ERA, while veteran southpaw Carlos Rodon was tied for second with 18 wins and was 14th with a 3.09 ERA. Furthermore, rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler notched a 2.96 ERA over 14 regular-season starts and a 1.26 ERA over two playoff outings.

If Cole's rehab goes well, and he comes back next season healthy, he could form a fearsome rotation with those three hurlers. Luckily for New York, the 35-year-old posted an encouraging update to his Instagram on Saturday.

New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole.© Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Cole shared a video of himself throwing off a mound in the Yankee Stadium bullpen. With three months until pitchers and catchers report, the six-time All-Star is on track to start next season healthy, barring setbacks.

Cole also missed the first half of the 2024 season due to elbow soreness, but still came through when it mattered most. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder recorded a 2.17 playoff ERA, although his season ended on a sour note when he allowed five unearned runs in 6 2/3 innings in a 7-6 World Series Game 5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, which eliminated the Yankees.

Gerrit Cole is throwing off a mound, per his Instagram. pic.twitter.com/Tiv2F9Dapv
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) November 1, 2025

Will Gerrit Cole Recapture Pre-Injury Magic?

Cole will enter next season with a 3.18 career ERA, but he must prove that he can still be one of MLB's best pitchers after returning from surgery. The 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner will be paid $36 million in each of the next three years (per Spotrac), so New York still needs to him to provide a high return on investment.

Regardless of Cole, though, the Yankees must upgrade their bullpen. The unit finished eighth-worst in the sport with a 4.37 ERA this season, per Covers.

Cole returning could also give New York the boost it needs to get the No. 1 seed in the AL again. It was tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the league's best record this season, but the latter club won the tiebreaker because of head-to-head record. That forced the Yankees to play the Boston Red Sox in the wild-card round and play the Blue Jays in the division series without home-field advantage. Toronto eliminated New York in four games.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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