Yankees' Aaron Boone Believes Gerrit Cole Is 'Poised For Big Year' Despite Slow Start

Yankees manager Aaron Boone has faith that Gerrit Cole will work through his uncharacteristic start to the season and be the ace his team needs him to be.

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole put together one of the worst starts of his career on Tuesday night, walking five batters in an outing where he didn't make it out of the second inning. 

After the game—a 4-2 victory over the Tigers in Detroit—Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked if he's concerned about Cole's start to the season.

If you've followed the Yankees during Boone's tenure, and are familiar with his unwavering optimism, you won't be surprised by his answer.

"I'm not, I'm really not," Boone told reporters. "I really believe he's poised for a big year for us and know he's going to carry us for a long stretch. Just hasn't gone his way so far, but I do feel like he's close. He's just got to get locked in with his rhythm and he'll take it from there."

Cole certainly has the track record to back up that endorsement. In his first full season with the Yankees last year, the right-hander finished second in the race for the American League Cy Young Award, winning 16 games while posting a 3.23 ERA across 181.1 innings. 

His start to this season, after a crackdown on foreign substances for pitchers, is certainly drawing some attention, though. 

Following an abbreviated spring training, Cole threw only 68 pitches on Opening Day earlier this month. He allowed three earned runs that afternoon against the Red Sox, each coming in the first four batters of the game.

His next time out, Cole pitched into the sixth, subduing the majority of the Blue Jays' lineup. An "otherworldly" performance from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the story, however, as the slugger went 3-for-3 against Cole, taking him deep twice.

"This game is obviously pretty disappointing," Cole said on Tuesday night. "The last game, Vlad had a great night and then the game before, on Opening Day, that's kind of uncharted territory for really a lot of people in the league coming off of that spring training and to be able to hold it there was a pretty big positive for me."

Through three outings, Cole has a 6.35 ERA, allowing eight earned runs in just 11.1 innings pitched. That's the worst ERA in the first three games of any season in Cole's career.

Explaining why he believes Cole will persevere from this uncharacteristic start to the season, Boone mentioned the right-hander's stuff still being there regardless of his results. He just hasn't settled into his groove yet.

"I get it, the results aren't there and we're talking about Gerrit Cole," Boone said. "But I feel like it's a lot closer to popping than would meet the lines these first few."

If New York stays on their five-day progression, Cole will pitch Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium against the Cleveland Guardians. Arguably his worst start of the 2021 season came at home against Cleveland, a performance where he permitted seven earned runs on a season-high 10 hits last September. 

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