THE GERRIT COLE INJURY IS DISTURBING

The Yankees' injury list is already staggering, and now it looks like their ace is going down. This is turning into an absolute nightmare. You have to seriously question the Yankees' medical team at this point. How does this keep happening? And what the hell was Aaron Boone thinking when he confidently stated that all the physicals were clean at the start of spring training? It feels like a jinx. Just keep piling on the bad news, why don’t you?

Gerrit Cole is reportedly dealing with an elbow issue in spring training.

The Yankees' ace took the mound for his second spring training start on Thursday in an 8-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. It was a disaster. He got rocked, giving up six earned runs in just 2.2 innings. And now, Jon Morosi is reporting that Cole is “undergoing diagnostic tests on his throwing elbow.” His injury status should become clearer in the next couple of days, but let’s be real—this is already setting off alarm bells across the Bronx.

This isn't even the first time we've had to deal with this. Cole had elbow issues last spring training, too. That turned out to be nerve inflammation, which he blamed on getting “a little too hot a little too quick” during his preseason ramp-up. The Yankees paid for it—he missed the first 75 games of the 2024 season. Even after that, Cole still put together a solid campaign, finishing with a 3.41 ERA across 17 starts. But now we’re back in the same nightmare scenario: Cole’s elbow is acting up again, and there’s no telling how bad it is this time.

This situation is beyond concerning. It’s disturbing. The Yankees can’t afford to lose Cole for an extended period again, but the way things are trending, they might not have a choice. The idea of trading for a top pitcher suddenly feels urgent. I just mentioned the prediction about trying to acquire Sandy Alcantara, (READ HERE) and sure, that’s a pipe dream. But something has to be done. Guys like Carlos Carrasco need to step up, and fast. And now, while we wait to find out what’s really going on with Cole, it looks like Max Fried just became the de facto ace of this staff and I am great with that.

It’s worrisome. It’s frustrating. And once again, the Yankees find themselves dealing with an injury crisis that could derail the entire season before it even begins.