Yankees expecting ‘Cy Young Gerrit Cole’ in long-awaited season debut that will be ‘tense’

There may be no such thing as easing back into big league action for the first time in nearly 19 months.

And no matter the opponent or setting, Gerrit Cole’s first start back from Tommy John surgery was always going to feel big.

But it is hard to ignore the fact that Cole’s long-awaited season debut will come Friday night at Yankee Stadium against the Rays, who sit atop the AL East after winning 21 of their past 25 games and swept the Yankees last month at Tropicana Field.

All of that sets up about as big a showdown as possible for a series that falls before Memorial Day.

“It’s going to be electric,” Cam Schlittler said Thursday before the Yankees wrapped up a series against the Blue Jays with a 2-0 loss. “Watching him rehab, how intellectual he is about the game, I expect him to come back and do great things. … He’s spent a year now preparing his body and his mind. There’s no doubt he’s going to come out there and be Cy Young Gerrit Cole.”

Since the last time Cole pitched on a big league mound — the infamous Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers — he has undergone major surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament (in March 2025), after the original one got him more than 2,000 innings.

So while it may be slightly unrealistic to expect vintage Cole right off the bat, the Yankees are also not ruling it out given how meticulously and determinedly the 35-year-old attacked every step of his rehab process.

“It’s been a long road and feel like he’s crushed the rehab process,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I feel like the ramp-up’s been really good. We’ve been diligent and haven’t skipped things and haven’t rushed things. As a result, I think he’s in a position to come here and perform at a high level. That being said, it’s been a long time, so I’m sure there’ll be some things he’s got to iron out at this level too. But we’re excited to get a player the caliber of Gerrit back in the mix.”

The Rays, whom Boone described as “the cream of the crop in the American League,” should provide an immediate test, given the headaches they provided the Yankees last month.

While they have a trio of stars in their lineup with Junior Caminero, Yandy Díaz and Jonathan Aranda, they also thrive on their speed and ability to put the ball in play, forcing opponents to be on their toes all game.

It was no coincidence that the Yankees held pitcher fielding practice (PFPs) on Thursday for the second time in three days, with Cole leading the way.

“I expect it to be intense,” Cole said earlier this week. “Tough matchup. Lot of balls in play, control the running game, PFPs, lot of pressure from the other team.”

All of those were boxes that Cole wanted to check off during his rehab assignment, which lasted six games in the minors.

He threw 86 pitches in his last one and will likely be on a pitch count right around there Friday as the adrenaline and stakes get raised.

“You could see it as it got closer, like, the excitement was definitely growing inside of him,” Will Warren said. “He’s making all these checklists and checking boxes and the final one’s about to get checked off.”

Cole was around the team for much of last season, giving his teammates a front-row seat to all the hard work and painstaking days that went into his recovery.

That gives them even more appreciation for seeing him back on the mound Friday, with Warren calling it “a huge jolt of energy in the clubhouse to watch him go out there and compete.”

Of course, it also has the potential to be a huge jolt for their rotation, one that has already been one of the majors’ best without him through the first two months of the season.

“It’s unfortunate Max [Fried] is gone, but it’s good to have Gerrit come back and hopefully Max soon after him and Clarke [Schmidt] soon after that,” Schlittler said. “Obviously I’m going to be a little biased about it, but with everyone healthy, I think we can be the top pitching staff in the league.”