{"id":123614,"date":"2026-06-10T20:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T00:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=123614"},"modified":"2026-06-10T20:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T00:18:15","slug":"gerrit-cole-in-prime-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/06\/10\/gerrit-cole-in-prime-form\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees\u2019 Ace Gerrit Cole Is Picking Up Right Where He Left Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though it didn\u2019t necessarily derail their season, losing Gerrit Cole for the entire 2025 season before it even started was a huge blow to the New York Yankees. They still won 94 games, but they fell very short of the ultimate goal, leaving everyone wondering if things would\u2019ve been different had Cole not needed Tommy John surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, Cole is finally back on the mound<\/a>, and he seemingly hasn\u2019t missed a single beat despite not having appeared in a regular season game in almost two years. Cole joins a starting rotation that currently includes Cam Schlittler<\/a>, Carlos Rodon<\/a>, Will Warren<\/a>, and Ryan Weathers<\/a>. But even with Max Fried<\/a> on the injured list<\/a> with a bone bruise, Cole is no longer the team’s best pitcher<\/a>, which would be Schlittler. Even so, Cole is definitely showing the Yankees just how much he was missed in his absence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are We Back In 2019?<\/h2>\n

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Remember in 2019, when the Houston Astros were the best team in baseball, Jacob deGrom<\/a> won his second straight Cy Young, and Mike Trout<\/a> won his third MVP? Cole was on that Astros team, and his numbers from that season were absolutely absurd; in 33 starts, Cole led the American League with a 2.50 ERA, led MLB in strikeouts with 326, and even came 10th in AL MVP voting.<\/p>\n

Cole hasn’t really reached that<\/em> level for New York since returning from injury, posting a 2.45 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 22 innings, but it doesn’t really matter simply because the majority pitchers don’t come back at all after having Tommy John, let alone at age 35. Yet, Cole has done it, making the long and grueling journey back to the mound and dominating while doing so.<\/p>\n

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Gerrit Cole goes just four innings in an outing for the first time since he allowed six runs on seven hits and four walks at the Mets on June 25, 2024 pic.twitter.com\/4jSi9n9FFF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 10, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n