Austin Wells belted a solo home run in the fifth inning and Gerrit Cole cruised through six scoreless innings in his return to the mound, but the Yankees bullpen couldn’t hold the lead against the pesky Rays, who emerged victorious 4-2 on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.
While the ending will leave a bad taste in the mouths of Yankees fans, Cole’s return was every bit as good as the club could have hoped it would be, considering how tough Tampa Bay’s lineup has been this season.
Let’s grade the 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner’s return in a variety of categories.
Checking the gas gauge: How was Gerrit Cole’s velocity in his return?
Right on the money. Cole, right from the jump, was pumping mid-90s fastballs at 95 and 96 mph in the top of the first inning, and he even reared back and fired a 98 mph heater during a big moment in the first with two runners on and two out.
Bottom line. Cole’s fastball velocity during his Cy Young-winning 2023 season? 96.7 mph. During the 2024 season? 95.9 mph. And on Friday night? 96.2 mph.
Exactly what the Yankees wanted to see.
Grade: A+
Pitch count/efficiency
At one point, Cole’s number of bananas eaten in the dugout—two—was almost equal to the number of pitches thrown in the top of the fourth inning—four. All jokes aside, that speaks to the level of efficiency with which Cole pitched on Friday against the AL’s best lineup at putting the ball in play.
If any lineup was going to give Cole trouble and potentially run his pitch count up, it was this lineup. But Cole, to his credit, relied on his best offering, pitched to contact and befuddled the Rays for six innings.
Even after his night was finished at 72 pitches, it still felt like Cole could have gone back out there for an inning or two. That’s how efficient and in control he was.
Grade: A
Swing-and-miss stuff
Largely a byproduct of Cole’s strategy coming into this start, the Yankees righthander did not have his usual swing-and-miss stuff. He generated just five swinging strikes on 72 pitches and racked up only two strikeouts, though both punchouts were exclamation points: one ended a first inning jam and the other came after a seven-pitch battle with Jonathan Aranda in the sixth.
With how well Cole’s fastball and sinker were playing, there was no need to dip into his knucklecurve and slider as much as he normally would.
Cole loses points here, even if it was a strategic decision, but there’s no reason not to expect the whiffs to come in bunches in future starts.
Grade: C+
Pitch sequencing
If Cole loses points for his lack of bat missing, he picks them back up right here, as he was in midseason form in terms of his pitch sequencing.
Of his 72 pitches, 37—roughly half of them—were four-seam fastballs and 11 were sinkers. Over 75% of his pitches on the night were thrown at 95 mph or harder, whether they were fastballs of the rising variety or sinking variety.
But when Cole did sprinkle in his slider and knucklecurve, they were effective enough offerings to get outs. Above all, the strategy for Cole was simple: Live on the black and in the zone, and pitch to weak contact.
Cole threw 50 of his 72 pitches for strikes and allowed just two batted balls at an exit velocity north of 96 mph. The Yankees righthander executed his plan perfectly.
Grade: A-
Final verdict on Cole
He was efficient, in control and in many ways, looked like vintage Cole. The Yankees should be extremely encouraged with what they saw from Cole in his 2026 debut on Friday night. On the other hand, the Yankees should be discouraged from what they saw from the offense, which has scored just three runs in the last 30 innings of baseball, and the bullpen, which has been about as reliable as a leaky faucet lately.
