The Yankees, obviously, are not happy with the elbow injury suffered by ace starting pitcher Gerrit Cole, which is currently slated to keep him from pitching for three-to-four weeks. But, throughout the spring, the team has been hesitant to provide much information on Cole or, for that matter, on just about any injury the team has had in the past 12 months, a time frame that has essentially been dominated by the Yankees’ lack of health.
In addition, the Yankees appear to have a limited understanding of the health of their players. Cole’s injury is a prime example. It began as some mild discomfort and a slow recovery between starts, but now appears to be a problem that could keep him out for two months.
Similarly, Aaron Judge has missed significant Spring time with an abdominal injury, coming on the heels of last season, when both Judge and Anthony Rizzo—who was allowed to play through an obvious concussion for several weeks—suffered injuries that weakened the New York offense.
Gerrit Cole's injury follows a pattern
According to New York Post veteran reporter Joel Sherman, it’s become too much. It is time, he says, for the Yankees to make some changes.
First, the Yankees should probably be more honest on Cole’s injury. Speaking on his podcast, “The Show” with Jon Heyman, also of the Post, Sherman said, “Aaron Boone has already pretty much declared he is not there for Opening Day and I think if we could put the Yankees on truth serum they’d probably say if we could have him back middle of May, early June that would probably be a victory from some of the early things you’re hearing out there.”
The Yankees, Sherman said, are either mishandling all these injuries or they’re being untruthful about having mishandled the injuries.
“This feels like every Yankee injury is, are you dishonest or incompetent?” Sherman said. “Aaron Judge starts as normal body achiness, there’s nothing wrong with Oswald Peraza, he will be back in a few days, now it’s two months. So, I mean, they needed to clean up the injury stuff, they probably have to clean up some stuff on honesty.”
Yankees Medical Staff Needs a ‘Revamp’
Heyman agreed with that idea, though admitted that, to some extent, the Yankees might just be leaning towards positivity when announcing injury updates. But Heyman did call for the team to change the medical staff.
“I think they need to revamp their medical staff or process because it’s obviously a disaster, I don’t think there’s two ways about it, look what happened last year with Rizzo,” Heyman said. “I can’t even fathom how that happened. When he collided with (Fernando) Tatis he clearly had a concussion, I could diagnose from the press box. … This was a big mistake, to put him back on the field.”
Ultimately, though, the Yankees’ problem with injuries is not just based on how the injuries happen, but on whom they happen to. This is not a deep team. So when an ace like Cole, who was 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA in 33 starts last year, decreases, the team’s capability to stay competitive decreases as well.
“I think you can be unlucky with injuries but this has gone on too long,” Heyman said. “They’re also a top-heavy team. Judge is arguably the best position player in baseball, certainly in the league. Cole, unquestionably the best starting pitcher in baseball. I think they were made the favorite based on the fact that they have a handful of spectacular players.”
They do … as long as they’re healthy.
