Yankee fans certainly seem to be in a panic after Gerrit Cole struggled again to start the 2022 season, worried the team’s ace may not be the same again after last year’s sticky substance crackdown, or that the righty will never live up to his record $324 million contract.
But Aaron Boone says his ace is close to being the dominant pitcher he has been for the majority of his career.
“I’m not. I’m really not,” Boone said when asked if he was worried about Cole’s first three starts. “I think he’s poised for a big year for us, and know he’s gonna carry us for a long stretch. It hasn’t gone his way so far, but I feel like he’s close. He’s just gotta get locked in with his rhythm, and take it from there.”
Cole didn’t do much to inspire hope on Tuesday, tying his career high with five walks in just 1.2 innings of work, failing to get out of the second inning against a lowly Tigers offense without Javy Baez. The Yankee bullpen bailed Cole out in a 4-2 win, but that did not bail out Boone from having to answer about his struggling ace, who has allowed eight earned runs in 11.1 innings of work.
“I thought he was pretty sharp in the first inning…was just missing around the zone a little bit and started spraying his fastball a little bit,” Boone said. “Probably shouldn’t have left him out there as long as I did, just with the weather and the number of pitches he was racking up.”
Cole has certainly struggled to command his fastball, throwing it in the strike zone a career-low 51.5 percent of the time, but his velocity and spin rate are right up there with his career norms, leading Boone to believe that a turnaround is coming.
“The stuff is there, really with every pitch,” Boone said. “I think the cutter is gonna play an important role for him, too. I would go back to Opening Day. The first dour hitters were not good. But he settled in, got rolling from there, and overall, he threw the ball well against Toronto…I get it, the results aren’t there, and we’re talking about Gerrit Cole, but I feel like it’s a lot closer to popping than would meet the lines these first few.”
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