TAMPA, Fla. — Shortly after Gerrit Cole faced hitters for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery last spring, Aaron Judge said that “you would have never known” the Cy Young winner was coming off a procedure that robbed him of the entire 2025 season.
“It looked like the old 45 that I’ve seen for years,” Judge said Friday after grounding out against Cole, who faced three batters, threw about 20 pitches, sat around 95-96 mph with his fastball and topped out at 96.9 mph.
Told of Judge’s assessment on Saturday morning, Cole said it was “a great compliment” to hear.
“I wasn’t in a rehab mindset yesterday,” he continued. “I was just in that performance mindset. So it didn’t feel like anything other than how it used to feel going out there and competing.”
Cole said that he had “fun” facing hitters again, and that he found the outing to be “rewarding and refreshing.” More importantly, he felt good during the session and again on Saturday morning.
He added that he was “a little surprised,” that he threw as hard as he did, though he noted that he’s pretty built up.
But with all going well for the right-hander thus far, Cole put to rest any speculation that he may try to expedite his rehab plans.
“It’s great to feel great,” he said, “but I don’t think it makes me want to accelerate.”
Cole, 35, previously reiterated that full Tommy John reconstruction comes with a 14-18-month timetable. That means he could return sometime in May — that would be on the earlier side — or June if all continues to go well.
Cole and the Yankees have left the door open for the pitcher to throw in spring training games before camp ends, but they haven’t settled on how many more live batting practice sessions he’ll have to participate in before graduating to that step.
Judge joined by another Big Bomber
With Cole serving as a challenging tune-up a day before his Grapefruit League debut, Judge didn’t have to wait long for his first homers of the spring.
The Yankees’ captain went deep twice in Steinbrenner Field’s exhibition opener on Saturday afternoon, first taking Detroit’s Burch Smith 420 feet off the batter’s eye in the Bombers’ 20-3 win. The two-run blast traveled at 104.5 mph.
An inning later, Judge clubbed another two-run dinger off Ricky Vanasco. The shot to left sailed 395 feet at 106.1 mph.
“It’s spring training,” Judge said when jokingly asked if he’s ready for Opening Day. “We still got a lot of work to do. You like seeing results in spring, obviously, but I’m just happy to get three at-bats and feel good in the field.”
Judge went on to note that getting lots of early at-bats in spring training worked out for him last year. The back-to-back MVP, captaining Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, also added, “You don’t want to get exposed playing for your country, so you gotta be ready to go.”
Judge wasn’t the only giant slugger to homer Saturday, as outfield prospect Spencer Jones cleared the ballpark with a solo shot in the second inning.
Statcast measured the bomb off Keider Montero, a big leaguer the last two seasons, at 111.7 mph and 408 feet.
“I’m feeling good,” Jones said. “I’m just trying to get some good feels with the hands, get those going and use that as a trigger.”
Lagrange’s spring debut
Another towering presence, Carlos Lagrange, started Saturday’s game. The results were mixed, as the pitching prospect totaled 2.2 innings, three hits, two runs (one earned), two walks, two strikeouts, one homer and 53 pitches.
However, Lagrange’s four-seam fastball topped out at 102.4 mph and hit at least 100 mph seven times. It also had an induced vertical break of 18 inches.
While his change-up coasted above 90 mph and his sweeper impressed, Lagrange didn’t hesitate when asked what his best pitch is.
“My fastball,” he said with a laugh. “It’s hard and big and vertical.”
Judge, meanwhile, praised the 22-year-old for the second time this spring, declaring, “Carlos’ potential is to be a frontline starter for the New York Yankees.”