Although he has been overall impressive since returning from Tommy John surgery in May, Gerrit Cole is still in a ramp-up period. He is getting closer to full strength, though. The 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner tossed a season-high 90 pitches in the New York Yankees’ 12-2 home win over the Chicago White Sox.
Following two rocky outings against the Cleveland Guardians, he displayed a fair amount of durability and composure versus a squad that just went 4-1 against the best the National League has to offer. Cole allowed two runs on three hits and recorded six strikeouts and two walks to earn his second victory of the campaign. The performance itself was not the only memorable thing to come out of this one, nor was the Yankees’ offensive explosion.
The veteran right-hander made an interesting comparison to describe his approach since coming off the injured list.
“I feel like it’s kind of a blank canvas,” Cole said, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “I’m just laying down some base layer paint, and we’ll see what kind of Bob Ross concoction comes at the end of the year. A little bit of liquid white.”
The two-time ERA king has a healthy mindset. He understands how difficult it can be for a pitcher to regain their pre-injury form after a long layoff. He is also no spring chicken at 35 years of age. Patience and even experimentation will be critical during this transition phase. Gerrit Cole is already looking like a top-end rotation guy, however.
Heavy run support should only raise his confidence. Cody Bellinger, Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt, Spencer Jones and Jose Caballero each notched two RBIs and Anthony Volpe joined Bellinger in registering three hits against the White Sox. Every starting member of the lineup contributed in some way, as New York posted an outstanding 16 hits.
Cole knows that harder times will come, though, and when they do, he just hopes he can paint a masterpiece on the mound. Fortunately, this man is battle-tested. Like Bob Ross said, “you have to have dark in order to have light.”
No. 45 walked through the darkness and has re-emerged as the shining star Yankees fans remember him to be. He will bring a 2.57 ERA into his sixth start of the season.
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