Gerrit Cole could be ready for big workload in Yankees debut
The New York Yankees spent massive money to sign Gerrit Cole over the offseason, and he may be ready to start giving them their money’s worth, even in a shortened season.
The Yankees are set to open the 2020 MLB season against the Washington Nationals on Thursday, and Cole will be going up against Max Scherzer. After an interruption in spring training followed by a brief ramp-up period to get ready for the season, it is natural to figure that pitchers might not be ready to give full outings yet.
However, Yankees manager Aaron Boone thinks Cole could be ready for a big workload in his debut, saying it’s conceivable Cole would be able to throw 90-100 pitches.
Boone said it's "conceivable" that Gerrit Cole will be in the 90-100 pitch range tomorrow night.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) July 22, 2020
Cole typically is in the 90-110 range for pitches per start. If he’s in the 90-pitch range, we could expect to see around six innings from him, or more if he’s really dealing well.
The Yankees were thrilled to sign Cole to a 9-year, $324 million deal in December. The 29-year-old posted a 2.50 ERA with 326 strikeouts in 212.1 innings for Houston in 2019.
