Yankees Magazine: Ace in the Hold

He’d rather not be having the conversation, that much is evident. Gerrit Cole is an expert at many things, among them pitching, talking about pitching and teaching pitching. Few in this era can compare to his total command of the art.

When he went under the knife this past spring for Tommy John surgery, though, any hope of Cole pitching the Yankees back to the World Series, and hopefully to a championship this time around, were put on hold. His contributions in 2025 would have to come in a different way. And while he’d much rather be pitching than talking about not pitching, it is clear he still has much to offer.

This conversation, excerpted from an interview that appeared on the New York Yankees Official Podcast, took place just days before the All-Star Game, as the Yankees were emerging from a bit of a June swoon. If the injured ace could sit for a 20-minute chat so that someone else on the team wouldn’t have to, well, sign him up. It might not be a 12-strikeout two-hitter, but he’ll gladly do anything he can to help his teammates, whether advising young hurlers, breaking down film or chatting with Yankees Magazine deputy editor Jon Schwartz about the perils of pitching in 2025.

For more in-depth interviews with your favorite Yankees, be sure to subscribe to the New York Yankees Official Podcast at the podcast app of your choice, or by visiting yankees.com/podcast.

Yankees Magazine: My first question is the simplest one: How does the elbow feel?

Gerrit Cole: It feels really good! I’m continuing to build strength both in the shoulder and in the elbow. I’m starting to introduce some dynamic movements, plyometrics and introducing some ballistic lifts; bench press and rows.

YM: I know it’s a slow process, but it also can be an exciting process in some ways. As you get to introduce a new thing, does the competitive juice flow through you, even in rehab?

GC: Yeah, some days are tough because you’re limited to some mundane exercises, but I try to bring a level of intensity every time and the same level of attention to detail as well.

YM: I’ve never been through this myself, but in my years of talking to pitchers, it’s very clear that rehab from Tommy John is a physical challenge and also really an emotional challenge. Have you found that the balance of the emotional aspect of it versus the physical aspect has been shifting as you’ve gotten deeper along in the process?

GC: Yeah, I mean, you also start to gain more confidence that things are going in the right direction the further along you get, the more your movement quality improves and you feel healthier. Those things contribute. It would be a lot tougher to do it without my family and without my kids. That’s been a real silver lining, and it’s been a special summer in that regard with a 2- and a 4-year-old, something that I never expected to have. There are some positives, and the hard part is behind us. It’s starting to get more fun as we move forward.

YM: What have you gotten to do this spring and early summer that you haven’t before?

GC: Taking kids to school, and then it turns into taking them to after-school stuff; hearing about their day on a daily basis, like what’s important to a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old. I’m thankful to be a part of it, and thankful that I was able to take Caden to chess, watch his first tee ball game, start to get him into some piano lessons. They both tag along with each other and have a good time together, so watching that relationship unfold is magical too.

YM: When you’ve been an alpha dog all your life, how do you make sure that what you’ve gone through over the past two years doesn’t in any way change your perception of yourself? Is it a difficult thing to make sure that you don’t let this color your own self-worth or self-confidence?

GC: I think the easiest way is -- and again, this is why family has been so important -- you can make a pie chart of your self-worth. And I think athletes, in general, sometimes have a tough time balancing that because all our focus is on our craft and our performance. We can’t always dictate the outcomes, but we want to be perfectionists, so we’re constantly driven in that regard.

You step away from the game for a little bit, you are a human being. When my wife and I decided to have kids, raising kids became our first priority. Now we have multiple No. 1 priorities. You’re taking from one bucket and pouring into the other bucket, right? And eventually, some of that water will splash back to where it came from. But I can see how if you don’t have that kind of support staff on the outside, it can be really challenging and daunting, especially at the beginning of this.

YM: You’ve always struck me as someone who’s so proactive, so keyed in on your process and your instrument. When someone is telling you, “You can’t throw a ball right now, but if you trust me and do these things, in five months, you’ll be able to throw a ball. And then if you keep doing these things, in 10 months, you’ll be able to throw off a mound …” Is it weird to just give yourself over and say, “OK, I trust you?”

GC: Well, you’ve just got to be where your feet are. And the reality is, sometimes you’re stuck in the mud a little bit, and your steps maybe aren’t quite as big. But sooner or later, you start to hit the ground running, and you can take more of a pragmatic approach to it. Certainly, you can be more optimistic; the percentages are in our favor at this point, based on the technology and how the surgery has evolved and developed over the last 50 years. So, running at this 80-some-odd percentile of return to previous success is a reason for confidence, but it’s not a sure thing. So, that’s why I just kind of say, “Right now I’ve got plyo balls, and they feel really good, and we’re looking to keep moving forward on those until we get to pick up a 5-ounce baseball.”

YM: I don’t know if you watched the NBA playoffs at all, but there was just this catastrophe of Achilles injuries. And when you see these giants of the game staring down a 16-month rehab or whatever, is there a sense of, Man, I know what that’s like …?

GC: Yeah, you can relate to it, certainly. I mean, ACLs, Achilles … season-ending injuries are tough at any time of the year, any way you look at it. At the beginning of the year, it’s like, “Well, I did all that prep, and now I have to sit out.” And at the end of the year, you’re like, “Wow, I got all the way, and now I can’t finish it.” So, there’s never a good time for an injury like that, and you certainly sympathize with each person’s individual path. It’s a challenge of pushing yourself and your body as far as you can go. You bump up against the limit.

YM: Closer to home, Jake Cousins just went through Tommy John surgery. Clarke Schmidt had the surgery for a second time. It just happens so much. But you can’t make it trivial, right? You can’t make it like just another thing that happens.

GC: It’s a really tough process, yeah. You’re right in the sense that too many people are getting it and that it’s all too common. But I was talking to [Yankees director of medical services] Stevie Donohue the other day about the end of Whitey Ford’s career and having the surgery that didn’t really go right with his shoulder. And shoulders are different than elbows, statistically, no doubt. But in Whitey Ford’s time, Tommy John wasn’t invented yet, either. If this was 30, 40 years ago, it would be less of a chance that I would be able to continue to pitch really well.

YM: You also probably would have been pitching hurt longer, and ineffectively.

GC: True. From a few different perspectives, in terms of training in that day and age, if we’re talking 30 or 40 years ago and what the dynamic of the game was, you were probably able to throw more bullets at less than max effort. And some guys made it through the finish line, like Greg Maddux; some guys pulled up just before, like John Smoltz. But when I was growing up, the guys that were getting Tommy John were in their mid-30s. They had accomplished quite a lot. They’d been pushing 2,000 innings or even more. And so, there were a few that stood out, that made it through the marathon of 3,000 innings on one ligament or 4,000 innings. But it was a tool, at a certain point, to extend a guy’s career.

YM: If someone were to come out today and say, “Guys, you’ve got to throw 3 mph slower on average. This is how we’re going to fix it …” Is that something that’s even possible? Can the sport correct itself in any way?

GC: From an industry perspective, I don’t really have an answer for you. From an individual perspective, at some point in your career you can always say, “You know what? I’m going to make sure I put the focus on longevity here. What are the things that can help me in terms of longevity? Am I making sure my mechanics are in the best place? Am I making sure my health and nutrition is in the best place? And am I taking risks out there, trying to pitch?” It’s not 1990, where maybe there were only 15% of your pitches throughout an outing that you would throw max effort. Maybe it was higher than 15, but less than 100, which is what some guys are doing out here. Some guys are going 75 pitches, throwing all 75 pitches absolutely as hard as they can. And the game trends more that direction; the game demands more on that side. But it’s not absolute. It’s not like if you don’t throw 100% on every pitch, you’re not going to have success. Some guys need to take a little bit of ownership on that. There’s nothing stopping them, I don’t think, from doing that. There’s a risk involved a little bit, but it’s your career. But, from an industry standpoint, it’s just tough.

YM: It’s not like banning the shift.

GC: It’s tough, dude. I don’t have an answer in that regard.

YM: How much have you enjoyed watching the pitching staff cook this year? Max Fried and Carlos Rodón are All-Stars. We’ve seen wonderful strides from Will Warren, Ryan Yarbrough when he was up, Cam Schlittler, who just debuted. Is it special for you to watch what these guys are able to do right now?

GC: They’re a good group, and they’re fun to watch. I can’t say enough about how good of a job Max and Carlos have done, and it’s been really fun to watch Will get some rope. My goodness, we’ve got an opportunity to develop an organizational prospect at the big league level to a certain extent, and the Yankees don’t often have that opportunity. Will has taken it and grabbed it by the horns and done the best job he can with it. And I think it’s going to really pay dividends for him down the road.

YM: I’m going to show you a picture right here. Cam Schlittler’s first start, first inning, Cal Raleigh up at the plate. He’s got a runner on, one out, 1-2 count. There are a bunch of pitchers on the rail in the dugout, all kind of talking to each other or watching the plate. Your eyes are dead focused on Cam. What are you looking at?

GC: Poise.

YM: Say more.

GC: Well, it’s 1-2. He jumped ahead of him. First big league start. Are you going to overcook this pitch? Throw it too high, throw it too low? Are we going to change at all now that we got to two strikes and we see the finish line one pitch away?

YM: You and I have talked about this a bit before, and I think it’s a challenging question to reckon with. But you walk into a room as Gerrit Cole -- No. 1 overall pick, Cy Young winner, Yankees ace, all these things. To use Cam as an example for a second, you’ve never been on a 26-man roster with him. So, how are you approaching him in these moments? Is it as a teammate? Are you more of a coach to him, just because you’ve never played together?

GC: I just told him, “Go have fun. Let me know if you need anything.” And I just watched.

YM: Is it important that your youngest teammates see your playful side? That you can disarm them a little bit to break down any potential mental barriers that might exist there?

GC: I just try to be myself. Hopefully, I strike a good balance. I’m not going to cater to a rookie; they’ve got to earn their stripes up here a little bit. But I’m obviously on their team. I’m obviously a huge advocate for them. I would address them the same way I would address any other teammate and expect that they respond accordingly. This is the big leagues. They need to feel like a part of the team, but they need to adapt to this environment, too, you know what I mean?

YM: What do you think has made you so good at watching the game and diagnosing things?

GC: I think I just have a lot of experience, and I’ve watched a lot of baseball. I’ve watched 130 games a year pretty much for the last 13 years or something. So that, plus the number of games that I’ve played, at that point you gain some instincts. I’m always curious. Maybe that’s what keeps me wanting more and always learning. But the other stuff is pretty straightforward: I watch a lot of baseball, and I care about winning.

YM: It’s not that I don’t believe you, but I bet if I went back to you at UCLA or I went back to you in Pittsburgh, you were probably advanced then, too. Am I wrong?

GC: We were taught a lot! I didn’t know everything. [Bruins head coach John] Savage taught us a lot. He ran a real tight ship and demanded a lot of discipline out of us, which was good, and a good foundation. He taught us a lot about the game, especially the West Coast style of baseball. A lot of that translated to the professional level, but I still had to learn a lot in Pittsburgh as well. I think the takeaway is that the league is always evolving and always trying to chew you up. So, if you want to stick around and perform, you’ve always got to be combating that, always staying vigilant and curious and trying to better yourself in any way you can.

YM: Is it as simple as saying that you are a good teacher because you’re a good student?

GC: Yes, I think that’s a good way to say it. I think that if anybody takes something from me, it’s less about what, exactly, I am saying, and more about the process of how I got to saying what I’m saying. If I can teach you to be self-sustainable, then that’s better. Maybe that’s what I was alluding to when you were asking about talking to a rookie. Like, we want them to be comfortable. But as player to player, as teammate to teammate, as man to man, I want this player to be self-sustainable. I want this player to grow on his own because that’s how I was taught, and that has paid dividends for me.

YM: You’ve been so open about how much you’re chasing a championship. As you go through this rehab process, and as the Yankees keep pushing toward the massive goal ahead of them, have you thought at all about what a 2025 Yankees championship would mean to you?

GC: I would just be thrilled. It would be hard for me to say that it was what I envisioned. When we dream about it as players, we don’t dream about it from the perspective of being on the injured list or sitting on the bench. We usually all finish the World Series making the last defensive play or throwing the last pitch. But we’ve been really fighting. We took a huge step forward last year and then got checked. The reality was that we needed to play better. That fueled me, and that fueled us. And so, even though I’m not out there directly pushing the cart this year, the goal for the season, the goal for those players, hasn’t changed. I would like to be out there contributing, but that’s not my reality right now, so it doesn’t really affect, at this point, how badly I still want to win a World Series.

YM: But there are also other contributions you know you can make.

GC: Sure. And quite frankly, most of them have come in years past, leading up to this point. I care about my teammates. I care about my organization. I care about our city and our fans. At heart, I’m just the same old kid that’s holding up the sign. We want the Yankees to win a World Series this year. There’s absolutely no doubt about it. And we have a team that can put us in a position to do that. But we’ve got to play better than we did last year. We’ve got to play better than we are playing right now. But we’ve got plenty of time to keep working toward that and continuing to sharpen our game.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Jon Schwartz is the deputy editor of Yankees Magazine. This story appears in the August 2025 edition. Get more articles like this delivered to your doorstep by purchasing a subscription to Yankees Magazine at www.yankees.com/publications.