Michael Kay reminds Yankees fans even good news on Gerrit Cole could be misleading

It's been days since New York Yankees ace pitcher Gerrit Cole went in for MRI imaging on his arm, and we still have no updates from Aaron Boone or anyone in the New York Yankees organization on what the imaging shows. One can presume the Yankees are getting several opinions on the injury.

Cole's injury is one that he self-reported to the medical staff, suggesting that something felt off. He reported that he was throwing 50 pitches or so, feeling like he threw 100. Obviously, that's a massive red flag this early in the year, and the team sent him for imaging to learn more.

The delay would suggest something might be wrong, or an extreme abundance of caution and second, third, or fourth opinions.

Even if the Yankees come out with optimism about the injury, Michael Kay isn't buying it, and told Yankees fans why they should also be worried, even if the news is good.

Michael Kay has seen this Gerrit Cole story before

Michael Kay is worried about the possible outcomes here, and points out how "good" news will only have the Yankees and Cole on pins and needles moving forward because of the possibility of a larger flare-up of the issue in a few months that would just move the timeline back further.

"You have Tommy John surgery as a starter, if he had it today, you're probably not coming back 'til August [2025]," Kay said, pointing out how, if Cole winds up needing Tommy John, it's better to do it now than in three months.

Kay also called back to Masahiro Tanaka, who pitched most of his career with a partially torn UCL, but notes that it's always such a risk to not get the surgery and hope nothing gets hurt in the meantime.

"Tanaka tried to pitch through it. You know what, he pitched through it his entire career. And it never blew, partially torn UCL, so if you do that, you take a chance and all of a sudden, you decide in July you can't do it, then he misses all of next year."

There's an infinite number of trails to get caught running down, including some that are contract related.

"At the end of the season he has an opt out in his contract. Now you might say it would be crazy to opt out when you're coming back from a serious injury. Or would it be? Because people might think, 'OK, one of the great pitchers of all time is now through Tommy John or whatever surgery he would have, I'm going to actually give him a new contract.'"

At this point, even good news from the Yankees on Cole shouldn't result in a sigh of relief among Yankees fans. This is a disaster of a way to start the season.