Yankees ace Gerrit Cole's next step could be to face live batters
NEW YORK - Yankees ace Gerrit Cole took another step in his rehab from right elbow nerve irritation Saturday, tossing a 40-pitch bullpen session, simulating two innings.
“The stuff’s been sharp,’’ said Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake, adding that Cole’s velocity was in the low 90-mph range.
“That’s probably a step ahead of where he came into camp this year, which is encouraging,’’ said Blake. “Probably like one notch ahead of a typical spring training progression.’’
Next, the Yankees staff will decide if Cole should throw another bullpen session, or if he’s ready to face hitters in a live batting practice setting.
“We’ll see how he bounces back from today and go from there,’’ Blake said Saturday morning.
During this latest session (Cole's fifth bullpen since landing on the injured list in March) Blake was impressed by “the crispness’’ of Cole’s pitches.
"It’s still kind of a spring training progression of sorts for him,'' said Blake. "Just making sure that the quality of the pitches is getting better each time out and he’s responding well.
“So far, so good.’’
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees ace Gerrit Cole's next step could be to face live batters
