Gerrit Cole works around two hits, shows improved velocity in first Yankees start since Tommy John surgery

Chris Cwik Wed, March 18, 2026 at 5:40 PM UTC

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It may only be spring training, but the New York Yankees had a lot on the line during Wednesday’s game against the Boston Red Sox. After missing all of last season due to Tommy John surgery, ace Gerrit Cole returned to the mound for the Yankees.

And he seemed like he was pretty amped up to be back out there.

Cole showed improved velocity in his first inning of work, hitting 98 mph with his fastball twice in the frame. While Cole allowed two hits during the inning, he was able to work around them, thanks to a key caught stealing. He finished the inning with 10 pitches, seven of which were strikes.

Though Cole gave up two hits, one of them was a bit flukey. To open the game, Red Sox outfielder Braiden Ward dropped a perfectly placed bunt up the first base line for a single.

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Cole was in hot pursuit of the ball and slid to the ground to try to make the play, but Ward proved too fast.

Cole may have been a little peeved about the first-pitch bunt, as he immediately tried to pick Ward off first base twice. After two unsuccessful attempts, Ward stole second.

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But Ward was a little too greedy on the base paths later in the inning. Following a flyout, Ward was thrown out trying to steal third base. It was a crucial play, as Cole gave up what would have been a run-scoring single to Jason Delay right after Ward’s out. Delay’s hit was far more legitimate, as he smacked a 98 mph fastball from Cole into left field for a single. The ball was scalded off the bat, with a 104.2 mph exit velocity.

Cole needed just one more pitch to get out of the inning, getting Nathan Hickey to ground out on a knuckle curve.

Overall, it was an encouraging start for Cole, who showed improved velocity on all his pitches in limited work. Cole’s slowest fastball of the day came in at 96.1 mph, which is just slightly up from his 2024 average, when his fastballs came in at 95.9 mph.

It was more promising that Cole was able to reach back and hit 98 mph with both his four-seam fastball and sinker when needed. Both of those pitches came as Cole was trying to put away Delay, a sign that Cole can already reach back for more velocity when he’s trying for a strikeout. Cole also had a 97.2 mph fastball earlier in the at-bat.

It wasn’t just his hard pitches that saw better velocity. His two knuckle curves were also faster compared to 2024, as was his slider, which was up nearly a full mile-per-hour during the inning.

There are, of course, a few caveats to those figures. It was Cole’s first competitive appearance since last March, and he was likely full of adrenaline while he was out there, which may have led to better velocity. He also knew it was going to be a short outing and may have gone out there trying to throw as hard as possible, knowing he wouldn’t have to deal with the fatigue associated with a longer stint.

Despite the low workload, Cole was removed from the game after just one inning. He’ll presumably continue to slowly increase his workload ahead of his eventual regular-season return, which is expected in late May or early June.

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Source: “AOL Sports”