Aaron Boone is hitting the pause button on Gerrit Cole’s Sunday start. The Yankees skipper confirmed Saturday that Cole will slot into Monday night’s game against the Tigers in Detroit instead of taking the ball Sunday against Cincinnati. That means an extra day of rest for the ace — his third straight start on five days’ rest was apparently one too many for Boone’s comfort level.
The Yankees manager didn’t say he’s worried about Cole’s surgically repaired right elbow. But he also didn’t have to. The decision speaks for itself. Cole returned from Tommy John surgery earlier this season and has made five starts so far. The results have been solid: a 3-2 record with a 2.57 ERA. He’s thrown 28 innings, struck out 24 guys, walked eight and given up 20 hits. The home run count sits at four. So not vintage Gerrit yet, but trending in the right direction.
To cover Sunday’s series finale, the Yankees called up Elmer Rodriguez from Triple-A Scranton. It’ll be his fourth start of the year. Rodriguez has thrown 13 innings at the big league level with a 4.15 ERA. The command has been the issue — he’s walked nine batters in those 13 frames. Not ideal against a Reds lineup that’s been chewing up left-handed pitching lately. The team sent Jake Bird back to Scranton to make room on the roster.
Chase Burns Is the Real Headline Here
The guy on the other side Sunday is Cincinnati’s Chase Burns, and he’s been flat-out nasty. Burns comes in at 8-1 with a 2.01 ERA. He’s punched out 95 batters in 80.2 innings. That’s borderline elite stuff. The Reds have to feel good about their chances in the series finale with him on the bump — especially against a Yankees lineup that’s been a little hit-or-miss lately and a rookie making just his fourth MLB start.
Cole’s extra rest is the kind of thing that gets labeled “precautionary” until it’s not. The Yankees have been cagey all year with his workload, and Boone made it sound like a routine scheduling thing rather than an injury-related move. But anytime a team shuffles its rotation to give a pitcher with recent elbow surgery an extra day off, people are going to raise an eyebrow. It’s fair. The Yankees are in first place in the AL East and can afford to be careful.
Nobody would say Cole is back to Cy Young form yet. But he’s getting there. The velocity has ticked up in his last couple outings, and he’s spotting his breaking ball better. The home run rate is a little high, but that’s probably just small-sample noise. The larger question is whether this extra-day routine becomes a pattern or just a one-time thing. Boone didn’t commit to anything beyond Monday.
The real test comes Sunday afternoon. If Rodriguez struggles early, Boone could face some heat for pulling Cole out of a winnable matchup. But if the kid gives them five or six decent innings, it looks like a smart long-term play. Either way, the Yankees are betting that a well-rested Cole in Detroit is better than a slightly tired Cole against Burns.
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