Tonight may be the final calm before the storm for the Yankees, or it could be the last night they go to bed with another baseball game to be played this season.
The truth lies somewhere in between, hopefully, but for Gerrit Cole and Kyle Higashioka, it’s just another day, and just another chance to do what they always do on the eve of Cole’s starts.
“I'll be watching video of the other hitters and other pitchers probably until just about I'm ready to go to bed. That's just kind of what I do anyway,” Higashioka said during Monday’s workout day media sessions. “Especially a game like this, you really need to make sure you have all your bases covered.”
Slightly different for Cole, only because he’ll be welcoming his wife to Boston Monday night and will take some time to decompress and become husband and father instead of Yankees ace.
“I’m looking at some stuff just like my normal prep already, and obviously, I’m here and I’ve got to play catch, so those conversations will be work-related,” Cole said, “but then Amy gets in later, so we’ll probably get some dinner and talk about Caden and what he was up to today, and probably not really talk about certain sequences.”
Come tomorrow, though, from the minute he gets to Fenway Park, Cole will be locked in for what is arguably his biggest start as a Yankee.
“I'm not watching BP like Nestor (Cortes), but I'm not in a turtle shell either – and yes, I did make that pun on purpose,” Cole smiled. “I kind of am in the middle. I try to put myself in the mode of how I want to go out pitching early. Maybe not as early as some other people, but I’m certainly not the guy that can walk out of the bullpen and just say, ‘I'm going to flip this switch’ and slide into my game mentality.”
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That doesn’t mean he’ll be surly; instead, it means he’ll be ready.
“I try to settle into that frame of mind and give myself some time to tune it up or tune it down if I feel like I need to,” Cole said. “I’m not like, ‘don’t bother me with dumb stuff’ – don’t, I think that’s kind of like understood, but I’m not going to snap at you, either. There are some people that do that.”
“He pretty much prepares for every game the same way; he’s always got his routine that starts in the morning when he wakes up, and he sticks to it no matter what,” Higashioka added. “He always comes to the field focused, locked in, and ready to go. I don't think it really varies from game to game.”
This time, however, is a little different, if only because it gives a chance for nerves to creep in.
“It’s a bit of a waiting game, which is good for the body and the mind, but, it’s like, can we just get it going already?” Cole said. “It’s good to a certain extent to recover, but you're chomping at the bit to get back out there, excited for the challenge that's ahead of us.”
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