NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees ace Gerrit Cole had an internal brace put in his right elbow as part of Tommy John surgery on March 11. And while he's not projecting a date for his return to the mound, he understands the usual rehabilitation takes about 14 months.
Cole, the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner, spoke with reporters Monday for the first time since the operation by Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache.
“I’m under the impression that it’s the same recovery time, 14 months or so,” Cole said. "I hope it comes back like maybe like a fresh new set of tires. I mean, that’s best hope, just a pit stop that took a little longer than you had hoped for.”
A 34-year-old right-hander with a 153-80 career record and 3.18 ERA over 317 starts, Cole felt constrained when his arm initially was in a cast following the surgery and then a brace, which was removed 2 1/2 weeks ago. He undergoes 90 minutes to two hours of rehab each day and now can touch his shoulder.
“It stinks but now that I’m stronger and less worried about getting bumped and things like that, it’s nice to be able to be back and be able to come around more and be in the dugout," he said during a 21-minute question-and-answer session in front of his locker. "It starts out really dark and then I think you work your way closer to the light at the end of the tunnel.”
His arm's immobility caused change.
“My wife cut my steak for three weeks or so, yeah, four weeks,” he said.
Cole has thrown 1,954 innings over 12 major league seasons plus an additional 133 1/3 innings in 22 postseason starts. His procedure was reconstruction of the ligament with an internal brace, which is designed to promote stability.
“My understanding is that it takes 24 months for the cells in the tendon to turn into ligament cells,” Cole said. “The idea of the brace in the situation of full reconstruction is to guard that first year so that you don’t have situations like — I believe (Shohei) Ohtani was the most recent one, where I could remember — coming back and kind of overstretching it or stretching it too far, then having to take some time off and get the brace surgically put in.”
Cole is on track to start a throwing program in August and perhaps be on a regular pitching program for spring training. He has spoken with teammates Carlos Rodón and Max Fried, who both returned from Tommy John surgery with ElAttrache, and former teammate Jameson Taillon, who had it twice.
Cole is signed to a $324 million, nine-year contract through 2028, and manager Aaron Boone wants him to return to a role of mentoring fellow pitchers.
“I want to encourage him to start being Gerrit and being around and doing his thing and offering what he does,” Boone said. “He's had obviously a ton of success but he’s also had moments of truth and struggles and adversity, too. So he’s got a lot to share and he likes sharing it, but he’s also smart about the craft and he’s able to absorb the information that’s available now and make of that what he will.”
Cole's 2024 season debut was delayed until June 19 because of nerve irritation and edema in his right elbow. He went 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts for New York and then was 1-0 with a 2.17 ERA in five postseason starts.
“I had defeated the odds for so long,” he said. “But, yeah, it did catch up to me."
Cole went for tests after allowing a pair of home runs in his second spring training start this year, against Minnesota on March 6.
“I had trouble bending my elbow. I had trouble moving my arm the next day,” he said. “So I had a pretty good feeling we were in some deep mud.”
His need for surgery was clear when he met with ElAttrache.
“I sat down in front of the computer and I saw it,” Cole said.
Cole has had time to take his kids to school and go to soccer and T-ball games of his 4-year-old son Caden, who is baseball teammates with Rodón's son Bo in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Before Cole falls asleep each night, he envisions being on a mound.
“I still pitch before bed,” he said. “I haven’t given up any hits recently. I try to run positive film in my head.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
