Yankees, Gerrit Cole downplay worries amid home run barrage: ‘He’ll be fine’

Economy World


NEW YORK — After Gerrit Cole gave up three more home runs Saturday to make it seven over his last two games, and as he posts some of the worst swing-and-miss percentages of his career, the New York Yankees ace and his manager Aaron Boone didn’t seem too concerned.

“I’m healthy,” Cole said. “I’ll figure it out.’

“He’ll be fine,” Boone said.

The New York Mets crushed Cole. He gave up five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings en route to a 12-2 loss at Yankee Stadium in the second game of the Subway Series on Saturday afternoon.

The Mets rocked Cole for nine hits, though he didn’t walk anyone and he struck out four. It came after the 36-year-old surrendered four home runs against the San Diego Padres on the road Sunday, three of them to the first three batters of the game.

So, what’s Cole’s deal?

“A straightforward observation is that the hitters are seeing the ball well and being able to deliver good (swings) to it,” he said, “regardless of the pitch type or, really, the location.”

The loss means the Yankees won’t clinch a playoff spot until at least Sunday. They started the day three games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.

The Yankees have 14 games remaining, and they may be relying on Cole to be their Game 1 starter in a potential Wild Card series matchup.

Cole likely will make just two more starts before the end of the regular season. Does he have enough time to figure it out?

“Oh, yeah,” Boone said. “I expect him to be right next time.”

Cole has had a successful season, returning from Tommy John surgery that wiped out his entire 2025 campaign. He returned May 22, and in 20 starts, he has a 3.67 ERA and an 8-9 record. His fastball hasn’t lost much heat either, sitting at 96.9 mph on Saturday.

Yet, Cole generated just three whiffs on 40 swings (8 percent) Saturday. For the season, his 22.6 whiff rate going into Saturday was the lowest of his career since 2017.

Few expected Cole to return to the dominance he showed in his last full season in 2023, when he won the AL Cy Young Award at age 32. But the Yankees hoped he’d miss more bats than he has.

“It’s something that we’ve got to figure out, for sure,” Cole said. “This is one of those times of the season I think we’ve got to start making adjustments. Sometimes adjustments are hard. But that’s the demand of the game. You’ve got to find a way to get through it and get forward.”

Cole said it was a “fair question” to ask about why hitters aren’t missing his pitches like they used to.

“(It’s) hard for me to pin it on one thing because, again, at a certain point starting pitchers throughout the year need to make an adjustment,” he said. “It’s a long season. Hitters are good. Offenses are good. High-stakes games with good offenses, sometimes they teach you lessons, like (Saturday).”

And what about the whiff rate on his fastball, which used to be his bread and butter? His heater has just a 21.8 percent swing-and-miss rate — also the lowest mark since 2017.

“It’s been a little bit of a challenge,” he said. “It’s hard to compare to previous years, pitching without the (Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System). “I think maybe chase and swing and miss across the board is down. Trying to find out where those numbers would be relative to this environment is something that we need to navigate. But at the same time, the stuff isn’t just performing like you’d expect it to perform. So there’s something there that we need to figure out.”

It didn’t help Saturday that Cole delivered meatballs in two of the three home runs he surrendered. Francisco Lindor crushed an over-the-plate, thigh-high changeup to lead off the game. In the third inning, Carson Benge hammered Cole’s 1-0, middle-in slider that didn’t break. The second home run Cole surrendered came off a good swing by Luis Torrens, who hammered a 97.7 mph fastball up and in for a two-run blast in the second frame.

Boone said Cole lacked that “next layer of command of getting it to his spots.”

Cole didn’t believe his arm was showing signs of fatigue, despite not pitching last year and making just 17 starts in 2024. Boone didn’t, either.

“I feel great,” Cole said. “So, no.”

Except Cole hasn’t looked great in his last couple of starts. The Yankees don’t have much more time for him to figure it out.

“Things can turn around quickly,” he said. “You take it one game at a time. I’m not looking at the next two weeks. You never really know how close you are. Sometimes, it’s really, really small things.”