The bad news is that on a night the Yankees could have used their ace to go deep into the game, Gerrit Cole left the team’s loss to Toronto in the fourth inning with a tight hamstring.
The good news? As of postgame, no tests were scheduled, and Cole was optimistic that it wouldn’t be a long-term issue.
“Right now he’s just experiencing tightness so we’ll see where we are tomorrow,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game. “Gerrit feels optimistic about it, he just felt that if he pushed through he risked something more. Hopefully it’s something he got out in front of enough.”
Boone thought that the hurler may have first felt something on a fastball up and in to Reese McGuire in that fourth inning, and it was after that at-bat where he called trainers out and was eventually removed from the game.
“There were a couple pitches at the end where I got through the finish and maybe overextended or just had a cramp or tight feeling in there,” Cole said. “I was sitting out there for a couple pitches weighing the pros and cons, and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get treatment and get back out, so I had to pull the plug. Super disappointing, but it just wasn’t going to loosen up.”
Listen to New York sports talk now on Audacy and shop the latest Yankees team gear!
Both skipper and hurler are hopeful that making that decision helps Cole avoid anything long-term.
“I was in a spot where you continue to try to make pitches and it keeps pulling on it; it’s not getting worse, but you might be only one pitch away from making it worse,” Cole said. “You go through this kind of stuff all the time, and hopefully you’re able to recover and don’t have to miss a start.
That’s the hope of saying something early and not grinding through. It’s super disappointing but hopefully the decision pays dividends the rest of the way.”
“He’s pretty optimistic right now, but we’ll have to see how he responds overnight, and tomorrow, and in the coming days,” Boone added. “Hopefully he avoided something more serious.”
Boone did note that Cole has had issues like this pop up before, and the righty concurred by saying that pitchers, especially, can work around seemingly minor tweaks at times.
“When something like this comes up, depending on the spot and how it occurred, you can kind of stride around it or work around it, make a couple pitches until you can get some treatment on it and massage your way through it,” Cole said. “Tonight, I really wanted to do it and gave it a go for a couple pitches, but I wasn’t confident enough I’d be able to sit here and say I’d be able to go if it got worse. I had to get another batter out in a mess of an inning with a big jam.”
That said, Cole wasn’t yet ready to make a prognosis on if he’ll make his next start on time.
“It’s tough to say right now. I kind of want to reserve judgment until we see how this reacts over the next 24 to 36 hours,” he said. “For my own mentality I want to make sure either I’m good or I need a few extra days. I don’t know how much you feel 100 percent during the course of a year, but I’m going to be as smart about it as I can and trust my instincts. My instincts helped me out tonight, and being able to walk normally and get through some pitches was a positive. I’ll trust the staff and rely on what I’ve done before, and hopefully be able to make the next one.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
