Gerrit Cole hasn’t pitched yet in this postseason, but that is certain to change against the Rays in the ALDS.
For Cole, who missed all of last season — including the playoffs — following Tommy John surgery, it will be worth the wait.
“This time around, I have a different perspective,’’ Cole said in the celebratory clubhouse late Wednesday night. “Having missed it last year to now being right in the thick of it. To overcome the obstacles from the surgery and maintain my performance and be in this position after a lot of hard work, it means a little more this year.”
Cole said of this postseason, “It’s 2.0. A second bite of the apple.”
For Cole, who arrived in The Bronx with much fanfare in December 2020, the goal has always been to get the Yankees — his childhood team — another World Series title.
They took a shot at it in 2024 before falling short to the Dodgers in five games, but now, after tearing his UCL the following spring training, the 36-year-old feels they have a good chance to keep this postseason run going.
A big part of that is their rotation, which will be tested more in the best-of-five ALDS against Tampa Bay than in the two-game sweep at home over a Red Sox team that was gasping to the finish line.
At various points during the season, nearly all of the Yankee starters dealt with at least some injury concern, whether it was Cole returning from Tommy John in May, Carlos Rodón also missing the beginning of the season following his offseason elbow surgery or Max Fried battling a bone bruise in his left elbow.
But as the Yankees now head into the heart of the playoffs in the first week of October, their rotation is lined up as well as they could have planned.
“The mix of all of us looks good,” Cole said. “We have four or five unique arms, with completely different stuff and it’s elite.”
The Yankees didn’t announce their rotation order for the ALDS on Wednesday, but Cole and Rodón are in line to pitch Game 1, with Cam Schlittler potentially in Game 2 so he would be available for a Game 5 start.
“However they draw it up, I think we’re in a good spot,’’ Cole said. “Carlos and I will just take the ball and we all have our own unique ways of doing it.”
He believes the same is true of the rest of the team, which showed off some flexibility in the wild-card series, with multiple players playing first base, second, third, center field and right.
For the two games against Boston, they hardly even seemed to miss Aaron Judge, who remains out with a strained calf.
The 2023 Yankees were unable to overcome his absence and missed the playoffs when Judge suffered a torn ligament in his toe.
“It’s taken all of us,’’ Cole said. “We found a way to thrive with a hand behind our back … [and] we have a lot of different ways to beat you.”
Cole hopes he’s one of them in the next round, having last pitched a postseason game in the ugly Game 5 loss to the Dodgers two years ago.
