In his final spring training tune-up on Friday night, Gerrit Cole gave the Yankees 5.2 innings of shutout baseball, allowing just two hits and striking out five without a walk, lowering his spring ERA to 2.45.
So, yes, it’s safe to say that the Yankees’ ace is ready to take the ball on Opening Day against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 1.
After his outing game to an end, Cole explained that he had a few items on his to-do list on Friday against the Orioles, and he believes he checked every box.
“You have some goals, typically, that you set – wanting to get through the sixth, wanting to get the pitch count up, work on a few sequences, tidying some things up in terms of approach, communicate, and we did a lot of those things well,” Cole said.
“I’ve hit every marker this spring so far. I should go out there (on Opening Day) with a pretty full clip. Been happy with the shapes of the pitches, been happy with attacking the zone, and so, yeah, I feel like, well at this point I’m as prepared as I can be.
“There’s no more starts,” he added with a laugh.
The next time Cole takes the mound, it will mark the first time he toes the rubber wearing pinstripes with Yankees fans in the stands.
It’s a moment that Cole has long awaited, after pitching the first year of his nine-year contract without the Yankees faithful in the seats, and the ace had an interesting take on what that experience was like without fans in 2020.
“To use a baseball term, it feels like I kind of got dry humped. But, I anticipate there being some energy,” Cole said. “It’s been a long time since the people of New York have been able to get to a baseball game, so looking forward to it. Looking forward to my family being there, and hopefully we come out crisp, play a good game, and set the tone for the season.”