Gerrit Cole Finally Retaking Ace Duties Leaves Yankees With a Brighter Outlook

There may not be a better one and two starter combination in baseball than Cam Schlittler and Gerrit Cole.

Gerrit Cole is already looking like his old self, and the Yankees should be excited by what's to come next. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Yankees may have some deficiencies in their bullpen, but there aren't many teams that can boast a starting rotation that they have. Usually, teams will face an ace like Cam Schlittler and then feel pretty good about their chances the next day. The next guy on the bump is usually somewhat of a downgrade.

Most teams already don't have a Schlittler, and for the ones who do have a pitcher of that caliber on their roster, they aren't also rolling out a Gerrit Cole the next day. That's what the Yankees are working with.

Whether Cole delivers against the Royals or finds himself looking a little rusty because he is only two starts in after a 17-month layoff, the Yankees are showing the baseball world a little preview of their playoff rotation in Kauffman Stadium. There may not be a better one-two punch in the sport. Things will get even more interesting once Max Fried is healthy enough to come back, and he effectively slots in as a three starter.

Cam Schlittler's 2Ks in the 1st pic.twitter.com/ZE0QgHtZYh

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 27, 2026

The Yankees already had one of the best starting rotations in the sport heading into Cole's start. Their 3.22 ERA was fifth before he took the mound against Tampa in the Bronx last week, and their 6.6 starter WAR, according to FanGraphs, was first in the sport by a wide margin. What does that look like when Cole is five to 10 starts in?

The Yankees are already 2.5 games back of the Rays, and now, that turn in the rotation went from Luis Gil and Elmer Rodríguez to a former Cy Young winner. There's a good chance they can close that gap further. They were 5.5 games back heading into that series against the Rays, and the lead has already been cut in half.

Gerrit Cole is looking sharper than anticipated

The last time out, the Yankees may have lost with Cole on the mound, but give credit to the Rays' pitching staff for that one. Their 2.82 ERA is the lowest in baseball, and they held the Yankees off as their ace returned to the mound. Most Cole starts won't look that way, though, especially if he's throwing the type of gas he did when he returned.

Can Gerrit Cole continue to exceed the Yankees' expectations? | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Since he began his rehab, one noticeable difference about Cole has been that his fastball has some life it didn't have before his Tommy John surgery. During one rehab stint, he cracked 99 mph at Triple-A. He didn't dial it up to 99 mph for the entire 2024 regular season, and the only time he did was in the World Series. It was that infamous Game 5, where, by all accounts, Cole should have taken the win and brought the series to Los Angeles.

Against the Rays, Cole averaged 96.2 mph on his fastball, hitting 98 mph once and 97 mph three times. There were no 99s yet, but there wasn't a need to dial it up. What was most astonishing, though, was the lack of hard contact that the Rays made. While the whiffs were not there, Tampa hitters had an average exit velocity of 86.6 mph against him. It was a case of a wiser Cole figuring out a way to get outs, even with that strikeout lacking.

He struck out two and walked three, but was able to navigate around those free passes. Not bad for a guy coming off a long layoff.

"Just build on that," manager Aaron Boone said following Cole's first, according to the New York Post's Greg Joyce. "I thought it was a great first go after 17 months of not being on a big league mound, really. What was really impressive to me was obviously he pitched well, six shutout innings.

"But I thought he managed the game really well. Handled all the different game-like situations against a team like the Rays, where the running game and their speed and athleticism is a factor. He controlled all those in-game situations with a pitch clock. Maybe you would have thought maybe there'd be some rust there, I thought he handled those things so, so well."

Cole will have an opportunity to build off his strong start when he faces the Royals in Wednesday's series finale.