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Gerrit Cole brings the heat with Yankees spring debut near

By
George A. King III
Published Feb. 19, 2020
Updated Feb. 20, 2020, 9:39 a.m. ET

TAMPA — After using a slider and curveball in his second live batting practice session on Wednesday, Gerrit Cole is ready for his exhibition season debut Monday night against the Pirates at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Likely to work an inning against the team with which he broke into the big leagues, Cole would be on track to be the Yankees’ Opening Day pitcher on March 26 in Baltimore. Since the Yankees signed the 29-year-old right-hander to a nine-year deal for $324 million, Cole was considered the Opening Day starter the minute he signed.

Facing Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres and Mike Tauchman in a two-inning exercise, Cole used his fastball and changeup to go with the slider and curveball, but the emphasis was on the fastball.

“It was a good mix. I tried to push the fastball percentage probably about 15 to 20 percent higher than what I normally would. Try to sit at 65 to 75 percent fastballs,’’ Cole said. “I’ll probably back off the mix for the next start, still incorporate all the pitches, just try to continue to push the fastball first before mixing all the other stuff at the same rate that we would be mixing during the regular season.’’

Throwing to Kyle Higashioka, who caught Cole when they were teenagers on scout teams in Southern California, Cole liked his 40-pitch outing.

“I thought it was good. I missed wildly only two or three times. My misses were pretty controlled for the fifth time off the mound,’’ Cole said. “I thought I commanded the zone, both sides of the plate, struck left-handers out on fastball in and got fastballs in on right-handers, too. Clipped the bottom of the zone a couple of times with the fastball.’’

Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks played with Cole and Higashioka on those scout teams. In Cole’s brief time with the Yankees, it is clear to see he enjoys talking pitching with fellow pitchers no matter their age. Earlier this week, he was engaged with Jordan Montgomery, Zack Britton and guest instructor Andy Pettitte in front of his locker for a long time.

Hicks was asked if Cole was like that as a teenager. After a moment to think, Hicks simply said, “He threw hard.’’