New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole hit a batter during a rehab assignment start on Tuesday night. It happens, but this particular plunking by Cole may have had some intention behind it.
Cole is still trying to work his way back to The Show after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2025, which resulted in him throwing zero pitches for New York last season.
New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole throws a pitch during workouts at George M. Steinbrenner Field. (Kim Klement Neitzel/Imagn Images)
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The 35-year-old took the bump for High-A Hudson Valley on Tuesday, and let’s just say things didn’t exactly go as well as he would have liked. Cole gave up five earned runs and seven hits in 4.1 innings of work. Two of those seven hits were home runs, one of which came courtesy of Caleb Bonemer in the second at-bat of Hudson Valley’s contest against Winston-Salem.
Bonemer, a Chicago White Sox prospect, hit a no-doubt homer off of what was just Cole’s fifth pitch of the game. After he connected for a single in his second at-bat against Cole, he then stepped to the dish in the fifth inning and wore a 97 mph heater for the team.
Pitcher Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the second inning of a spring training game at Sloan Park on March 24, 2026 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) (Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
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With it being the first pitch of the at-bat and the baseball connected with Bonemer relatively high on his body, it didn’t make for great optics for Cole.
As a clip of the play made its rounds on social media, former MLB pitcher Seth McClung got a hold of it and did not hesitate in accusing Cole of intentionally hitting Bonemer.
It is highly unlikely that we’ll ever know whether Cole intentionally hit Bonemer, but it’s fair to assume the six-time All-Star wasn’t in the best of moods when the batter stepped into the box.
Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees warms up prior to a game against the Boston Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 18, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. The Yankees beat the Red Sox, 1-0. (Photo by Leah King/Diamond Images via Getty Images) (Leah King/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
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Continuing the grind of trying to return to the Yankees and giving up moonshot home runs to young prospects in High-A ball can make for a short fuse.
Cole’s numbers in his four total starts across High-A and AA this season have not been stellar, as he’s posted a 5.79 ERA and 0-1 record in 18.2 innings of action.
