When will Gerrit Cole pitch again for Yankees? Aaron Boone sets return date

Gerrit Cole going down with an elbow injury gave New York Yankees fans a legitimate reason to panic. This Yankees team that missed the postseason in 2023 was going to be without its ace for at least the first couple of months of the season. Yes, they got Juan Soto, but was their starting rotation good enough to overcome the loss of the best pitcher on the planet?

It turns out that not only was their rotation good enough, it was better than anyone could've anticipated. Yankees starting pitchers lead the majors with a 2.90 ERA without Cole. Luis Gil has pitched like a Cy Young candidate, Carlos Rodon has bounced back very nicely, and Marcus Stroman has proven to be a strong signing. Even after a disappointing ending to their most recent road trip, the Yankees are 50-24 which not only leads the AL East, but the entire majors.

As well as their rotation has performed, the Yankees are going to need their ace if they want to go anywhere in October. Thankfully, Aaron Boone revealed that Cole is going to return for Wednesday's game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Gerrit Cole set to make season debut at the perfect time

As well as the Yankees have played, they find themselves deadlocked in a tight division race with the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles just took two of three from the Philadelphia Phillies and are just 1.5 games back of the Yankees for first in the AL East. The Yankees and Orioles are arguably the two best teams in the majors and are now set to face off at Yankee Stadium for a crucial three-game set.

Nestor Cortes Jr. gets the ball for the series opener, and then Cole is expected to slide in to start game two of the three-game set against Baltimore's impressive rookie Cade Povich. Talk about throwing a guy right into the fire.

Cole won't be getting eased in at all. He's going to face a loaded lineup that just scored eight runs in less than five innings against Zack Wheeler, arguably the favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award before he faced the O's. He's doing so with a ton of pressure, knowing that the game he starts could prove to be the difference in what will surely be a fun finish for whoever wins the division.

The right-hander made three rehab starts as a final step before he was deemed ready to take the ball for the big club. He allowed a total of one run in 12.1 innings across those three starts, the last of which saw him strike out ten in 4.1 innings for AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Cole threw 68 pitches in that last outing which suggests that he might be a bit limited, but he can still work close to a full starter's workload.

For the Yankees, this is simply the rich getting richer. This team that has been elite all year just got arguably the best pitcher on the planet back, and is starting him in a very important game that happens to have come at the perfect time. Quite the luxury.