Gerrit Cole had weirdest excuse for his subpar Opening Day start

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole does not get rattled by anything … except for minor inconveniences.

Cole had a shaky start to the 2022 season on Friday, getting roughed up on Opening Day by the Boston Red Sox. The All-Star righty surrendered three earned runs in the first inning and didn’t even make it to the fifth inning. Cole escaped with a no-decision though since the Yankees came back and won in extra innings 6-5.

Afterwards, Cole offered the strangest excuse for his shoddy performance. He said that the delayed start to the contest (thanks to the Opening Day festivities at Yankee Stadium running slightly long) was “an unforeseen challenge” for him. The length of the delay? Four whole minutes (pushing back the first pitch from 1:08 to 1:12 PM).

“The festivities got a little away from the schedule,” said Cole, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

Indeed, Cole was seen angrily yelling, “Let’s go!” from the dugout while the pregame festivities were still going on.

Just before Billy Crystal threw out the first pitch, Cole seemed PISSED about the start time getting slightly delayed pic.twitter.com/rDuvkVmWl4

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) April 8, 2022

Many baseball players are definitely superstitious creatures of habit and routine. Another top pitcher is infamously the same way as well.

But Cole creating that big of a stink over an extremely brief holdup is a little much. For a guy making over $35 million per year, you would expect him to be able to adjust to a four-minute delay.

Photo: Feb 14, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) throws during a spring training workout at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports