Yankees Star Turns Lost Season Into ‘A Special Summer’

Life served New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole some lemons early in 2025. So he decided to make a heaping pitcher of lemonade. 

After declining an early opt-out option early in the offseason, Cole approached season six of his nine-year, $324 million contract eager to do his part to get the Yankees back to the World Series.  

The American League Cy Young Award winner in 2023, Cole had missed the first half of 2024 with elbow inflammation but returned to make 17 regular season starts, plus another five in the postseason. A durable pitcher who had made 30-plus starts in the previous six non-Covid seasons, Cole arrived at spring training on the heels of a modified offseason throwing program that he hoped would yield positive results after dealing with his first arm injury since 2016. 

“I’m in a really good spot [compared] to years past and probably slightly ahead of where we were last year,” Cole said in mid-February. 

But the optimism wouldn’t last. A few weeks and a couple tests later, Cole would undergo Tommy John surgery on the elbow of his pitching arm, ending his 2025 season before it had even started. 

“I defeated the odds for so long,” Cole said. “It did catch up to me.”