Gerrit Cole Reveals Update On His Elbow Situation

The news on Gerrit Cole is far from encouraging for New York Yankees fans, but let's face it, it could've been a lot worse. Now the reigning Cy Young award winner himself is clearing up any misconceptions about exactly what's going on with his elbow, his shut down and timeline for return. 

Gerrit Cole said he will be shut down from throwing for three to four weeks and then go from there. Said he has nerve inflammation in his elbow, but “felt good” after meeting with Dr. ElAttrache.

— Greg Joyce (@GJoyce9) March 16, 2024

Cole told the media that he has nerve inflammation in his elbow, but “felt good” after meeting with elbow specialist Dr. ElAttrache. He says he will be shut down from throwing for three to four weeks and then go from there. 

"I think we’ve determined that we just got a little too hot a little too quick,” Cole said Saturday. “I just got to a certain point where we just didn’t hit baseline and recovery. That’s important at this time of the year.”

An MRI and other imaging showed no tear in his UCL, so that's the good news. And a visit with Dr. ElAttrache, the Tommy John specialist, put his mind a little more at ease. 

“It’s not a common experience for me,” Cole said. “I haven’t really dealt with anything like this before. So anytime you’re going through something for the first time, there’s a little bit of uncertainty, but I had a lot of faith. I felt good leaving the doctor, yeah.”

Nevertheless, his absence is likely to be close to two months, as even after the 3-4 week period, if he is able to start throwing then, there'll be a full ramp-up, which could take another few weeks. 

The Yankees, meanwhile, have been linked to possible interest in free agent starting pitchers Michael Lorenzen, and possibly Mike Clevinger. 

Photo: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports