TAMPA, Fla. — Austin Wells swung hard at the first pitch on Monday and belted it over the right-field fence. The next two New York Yankees struck out, and the two after that — Paul Goldschmidt and Trent Grisham — also hit home runs. To look at the scorebook, you’d think they were taking out their frustrations the best way the Bombers know how.
It was a weird day at Steinbrenner Field, wet and windy, gray and glum. The Yankees romped over the Detroit Tigers, 10-2, but Gerrit Cole wasn’t pitching, Will Warren was. Cole wasn’t even here, having flown to Los Angeles to visit Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the orthopedic surgeon with a speciality in Tommy John surgery.
When you bring a damaged elbow to Dr. ElAttrache, you’re there to get it fixed. Monday’s awkward day was the last before a reality the Yankees never wanted to face. A few hours after the game, the team announced that Cole would undergo Tommy John surgery on Tuesday.
“Until things are official,” Wells said, “I try not to think about what if.”
Fair enough; as a catcher, Wells always has plenty to think about. His first task on Monday was guiding Warren past Tigers leadoff man Gleyber Torres, who was on deck at Yankee Stadium when Alex Verdugo struck out to end the World Series last October.
Of the Yankees’ 10 starters in that sloppy finale, only four are healthy members of the current team: Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe and Wells. Torres — and that Juan Soto guy — signed elsewhere in free agency. Verdugo and Anthony Rizzo remain unsigned. Giancarlo Stanton is hoping to save his season with platelet-rich plasma injections in his ailing elbows.
And then, of course, there’s Cole. Tommy John surgery will cost Cole all of 2025 and likely part of 2026.
“We talk about it all the time: these things are going to happen,” manager Aaron Boone said. “There’s going to be tough moments, tough times. Look, there’s no sugarcoating Gerrit Cole. We all understand who he is to our team and how important (he) is to our club. But unfortunately, sometimes, it’s part of the game.”
Until now, though, Cole had been the ace we took for granted — not his ever-elite performance, but his utter dependability. When Cole gets hurt, there’s that deflating reaction: Oh, man — him too?
Yes, him too. And it really shouldn’t be a surprise.
Cole left such a sturdy impression late last season — aside from that fateful Mookie Betts squibber — that it was easy to assume he’d be as sound as ever. He pitched into the seventh inning in five of his last seven starts, postseason included, with a 1.61 ERA.
Before that, though, Cole wasn’t Cole. He didn’t see the seventh inning in any of his first 15 starts after elbow inflammation kept him out until June 19, with an ordinary 3.97 ERA. He also missed a start in late July with general body fatigue.
This was always part of the equation with the 2025 Cole. Now, it’s the unwanted intruder on the optimism of spring.
“We knew where he was at the end of the year; we MRI’d him and we were in a really good spot,” Boone said. “His winter program, throwing program, ramp-up all went well. You understand, especially the mileage he has (and) what he went through last year, there’s always, I guess, that risk. But everything was pointing to him being in a really good spot just based on what we looked at at the end of the year, and obviously how he finished.”
Warren replaced Cole when he missed that July start, working a credible 5 1/3 innings in his major-league debut in Philadelphia. A shaky August followed (four starts, 10.47 ERA), and The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Warren as only the No. 12 prospect in the Yankees’ system.
The Yankees have Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman as their top four, with Carlos Carrasco and Allan Winans as non-roster starters. But without a trade or a free-agent signing (Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn), Warren would be the plug-and-play option for Cole. Naturally, he believes he’s ready for the chance.
Will Warren allowed one earned run over 3 2/3 innings on Monday. (Dave Nelson / Imagn Images)
“Absolutely,” Warren said. “I came into camp thinking that, too. Whatever happens, happens. I can’t really control anything other than how well I get out there and throw the ball. So that’s been my mindset the whole time.”
Warren got 11 outs on Monday and has performed well, with a 1.54 ERA in 11 2/3 innings. His changeup is progressing, giving him a viable weapon against left-handed hitters.
“He looks confident in his pitches and confident in his ability to throw them in any count,” Wells said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to work on and focus on is just getting comfortable throwing his stuff in the zone because it is so good, just being OK throwing down in the zone and not falling behind.”
Warren wasn’t thrilled with his outing — he didn’t throw enough strikes early in the game — but he managed to subdue some of Detroit’s better hitters. Boone seemed to like what he saw.
“Today was just another good day when I don’t even think he was necessarily at his best, so that’s important,” Boone said. “I just think he made big strides. He’s put himself right smack in the middle of the conversation.”
The Yankees can win without Cole. The Los Angeles Dodgers survived without Tyler Glasnow last fall, and the Texas Rangers won the title after Jacob deGrom went down in early 2023. In the modern game of pitching attrition, depth wins.
The problem is that the Yankees have already used theirs, first with Stroman for Luis Gil and now, presumably, with Warren for Cole. They are basically out of reinforcements for the most precarious position on the roster.
It’s not even St. Patrick’s Day, and the Yankees need more than a little luck. The dreaded “what if” is upon them.
(Top photo of Gerrit Cole: Brandon Sloter / Getty Images)
