Gerrit Cole passes huge rehab test with flying colors

The New York Yankees look like the best team in baseball. Record wise, they're tied for it. Product wise, well, it's hard to argue another team is performing better than New York is right now. They have the best two players in the American League, for goodness sake.

And fans will begin to yell from the rooftops that New York needs to build their roster at the trade deadline. But the Yankees biggest June acquisition won't come from the trade market. It'll come from the injured list when Gerrit Cole makes his long awaited return to the Bronx.

Bad news for the league. Cole is getting close to returning. He looks good and he feels good.

Gerrit Cole looks like his CY Young self in his first rehab start

Cole dazzled in his first rehab start. He tossed 3.1 innings before reaching his pitch threshold. Across his 45 pitches, Cole allowed two hits and struck out five. He didn't surrender a run or a walk. His fastball was consistently in the mid 90's, not the 99 or 100 MPH heater that we're used to, but that's to be expected as he returns from an elbow injury.

At one point, much of the baseball world feared the worst when it came to this Cole elbow injury. Whenever an elbow injury is brought up, the first gut feeling is always UCL damage and the eventual Tommy John Surgery.

Luckily for Cole, that hasn't been the case, and he feels close to a full return. Don't believe me? Take it from Cole, himself.

Imagine a team having the best two hitters and the best pitching in the American League. That's the reality that the 2024 American League is going to have to face in the coming weeks when Cole returns and joins Aaron Judge and Juan Soto on the loaded Yankees roster.

Cole looks to return to his 2023 form, a pitcher who went 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA and a 0.981 WHIP en route to his first Cy Young award and his second ERA title. If he can return to this form, the American League will be the Yankees pennant to lose.